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Dear Felicity,
glad u think it can be used to good effect. My
number is 02084492162.
I'm just an ordinary citizen, (loosely) connected
with the Voices in th Wilderness group. I hate what we have done to Iraq. My
post is an accurate account of what John Prescott said and I'll stand by
it.
Best, Tim
---- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2001 8:23
AM
Subject: Re: John Prescott describes
sanctions as "a balance of terror"
tim, I've also passed this on to John Pilger, what is yr phone
no and how do we describe u? academic, concerned citizen, campaigner - or like
me dedicated trouble maker??!! best, f. it's great stuff. really well
done.
----------
From: "tim buckley" <tim.buckley@tesco.net>
To:
<soc-casi-discuss@lists.cam.ac.uk>
Subject:
John Prescott describes sanctions as "a balance of terror"
Date: Sun, Mar
25, 2001, 9:39 pm
I managed to get myself into the
audience of "Breakfast with Frost" this morning, where David Frost
interviewed three politicians - Simon Hughes from the Lib Dems, Michel
Ancrom, of the Tories and the British Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott.
I did not get a chance to put a point across about Iraq, so I assumed
the trip was a waste of time. However, after the show, the politicians stood
around and chatted with the audience for a while. I had the following
conversation with John Prescott(after politely interrupting the person he
was talking to!)
I
put it to him that UN reports showed clearly that economic sanctions had
killed hundreds of thausands of innocent Iraqis. He did not dispute the
point and simply responded with "It's a balance of terror." I interpret this
as meaning that a policy which kills civilians in an indiscriminate way is
ok because it balances Saddam's ruthlessness. He asked me if I wanted
sanctions lifted and when I said "yes" he replied "Jesus Christ!", probably
thinking that I was some kind of nutter. The idea of lifting sanctions
provoked him to blasphemy, but the idea, based on solid evidence,
that we
are killing large numbers of civilians did not seem to bother him much. He
then made an assertion that if Saddam complies with his obligations
sanctions would be lifted. I asked him whether or not he thought we
ourselves should comply with international law, as well as Saddam. He
replied "We do" and then he was off.
I do not have a recording of our
conversation, and I do not know if anyone nearby with recording equipment
captured it on tape or disc, but the above is a fair account of it. What I
found most interesting was the way John Prescott implicitly accepted that
sanctions are a policy that targets civilians and explicitly described them
as part of a balance of terror. There is an element of honesty here. I just
wish I had it on tape!
Regards,
Tim
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