Oh goody, let’s go Bomb The Forrins. And there was more. “There was a Cobra emergency meeting of senior ministers this morning followed by a meeting of the National Security Council. Sounds like things are moving quickly … The prime minister has spoken to Egyptian president al-Sisi tonight about Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. He told him that Britain will 'continue to take action to defend freedom of navigation and protect lives at sea’”.
Protect his poll ratings, more like. Economist Richard Murphy will not have been alone when he mused “There is money available for a war tonight, but not to pay doctors. Really?” It was noted elsewhere that the decision to go bombing would not be put to Parliament. And so it came to pass.
As the BBC has reported, “The US and UK have carried out air strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen with the aim of deterring attacks on ships passing through the Red Sea. The strikes were also backed by a number of the US and UK's allies. Missiles were launched overnight into Friday, hitting dozens of sites - with some casualties reported”. And our free and fearless press?
One can almost imagine the blood lust generated in all those newsrooms. NEEEE-YOW NEEE-YOW POW POW POW DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA BOOOOOMM!!! Lots of Hairy Plane impressions. Lots of explosion impressions, but sadly, no opportunity for hand grenade throwing ones. Because it’s easier to just missile, bomb and rocket the targets.
It got worse. Here’s BBC Breakfast: “'We are supporting this action’ … Labour leader Keir Starmer spoke to #BBCBreakfast after US and UK forces carried out air strikes against Houthi rebel targets in Yemen”. But something got forgotten in all the excitement, and that was the chance of this supposedly limited action escalating. Remember the Falkland Islands?
Two lessons from that conflict that Prime Ministers after Mrs T have been exceedingly reluctant to take on board: One, that was a self-contained war, with little prospect of escalation. No country other than the UK, and Argentina, was going to fight, and no alliance with any other country was going to be invoked as a consequence. Not like the Middle East.
And Two, the Falklands conflict had a victor, but also a loser. Argentina went to war as a means of distracting from the unpopularity of its military dictatorship and its domestic policy failure. That dictatorship did not survive for long after losing.This intervention may also turn out to develop not necessarily to Sunak’s advantage. Not after the rationale came clear.
It was all about supply chains - meaning keeping cheap imports from the Far East as cheap as before, while enabling the companies delivering the cheap imports to maintain their profit levels. This level of cynicism sits less than comfortably with the hunger-racked part of Yemen from where the Houthis garner their support. Blow you Jack, we’re all right.
And would rather keep it that way. Two more by-elections next month, mind.
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I don’t think it’s gonna do the prime miniature any favours this one. It ain’t the Malvinas. And what with him giving away another huge slab of cash to Ukraine, and the daily hitler saying food prices will rise and fatties will have to wait longer for the Jacomo Jeans delivery. I don’t think the plebs will buy it. Plus as much as the media try to flog it as a ‘multi national’s op. It’s old senile Joe leading the charge, with us tagging along as Americas little helper.
ReplyDeleteAnd so, here they go again. Another day, yet another West war and mass murder to go with its active support of the Israeli genocidal war crime against Palestine. And the other murderous atrocities against Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Aghanistan, Iran and Yugoslavia.
ReplyDeleteAll as forecast. British and European lickspittle politicians following orders from fascist rogue state USA. Corporate media propaganda clerks in their usual Uriah Heep cringe. Cowards to a man and woman.
Plenty of money for perpetual wars and corporate profits. But not for human decency. Homicidal insanity and manufactured hatred as an institution.
One day there will be a terrible price to pay for this deliberately inflicted horror, there always is. And it was and is so avoidable.
How accurate was Orwell! The dystopian nightmare has become fact.
The Gladstonian ideals of an international order have pretty much collapsed. Across the Internet, the conspiracy theory notion that "Globalism" (i.e international order) is evil, is spread by populist nationalists, which will further divide the world.
ReplyDeletePure black comedy gold seeing "public relations experts" working on the pathetic scarecrow that is Sunak. The little head tilt and/or forward head jerk to indicate "honest sincerity" and "dynamic determination" rank alongside the Andrew Preview sketch.
ReplyDeleteBugger all can be done with Starmer's warty insincere lying face though. He still looks like even he doesn't believe his own words. The slightly flattened quiff has failed too. You can't polish a turd like Starmer.