The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
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The letter from the BMJ can be found at www.casi.org.uk/discuss/1999/msg00068.html. Here is my letter to the sorry excuse of an MP that, apparently, receives nearly 60K a year for representing my views to the government. Diarmuid *** Dear Tom Many thanks for your calendar and your release detailing your uncontroversial views on Iraq. I understand that a man of power, and therefore responsibility, must often have to rationalise the irrational to himself in order to sleep at night. That you cling on to your belief that Tony Blair is simply trying to keep old Dubya on the straight and narrow seems beyond belief, but I suppose that it serves its purpose. Once again, I would urge you to learn from the past. If what you say is true, you are suggesting that the government of this country is following a policy of appeasement towards the government of the USA. History would seem to indicate that such policies don't work. The fact that the unelected president of the USA brushes off accusations of a unilateral stance by pointing to his allies (the British "Labour" Party and the right wing governments of Italy and Spain - interesting bedfellows) should force you to at least question your claim that Tony Blair is exercising a restraining force. However, my real reason for writing to you is to express my hope at your somewhat more humanitarian concern for cancer victims. Having lost my mother to this disease, I was reassured that you too shared my concern. But, I wondered, do your concerns extend beyond the limited space of the United Kingdom? In the hope that I can reach past the protective armour that surrounds your political career, I am sending you a letter from the British Medical Journal, hardly one of the most revolutionary organisations that this country knows. I would urge you to read it and to seriously consider why myself and thousands more people like me are opposed to this war. We do not oppose it out of sneaking regard for the brutal dictator of Baghdad. We do not oppose it out of a misguided belief that everything will turn out right in the end. We do not oppose it to forward our own political agenda. We oppose was, quite simply, because in all wars, the innocent suffer and die and the guilty tend to profit. If you could guarantee that no innocent Iraqi or Kurd would die in the slaughter that your boss and his boss wish to inflict upon Iraq; if you could assure me that once the Dictator and his cronies are felled, the Iraqi people would be left in peace to organise their own future; if you could promise that the interests behind this war are genuinely concerned with world peace (overlooking the whole problem with the Israelis), then I would offer my guarded support for military action. Yet I am sure that even you would agree, these claims would reflect the highest degree of naivety. I will not be making a contribution towards your sponsored swim because I am of the opinion that gestures like this, whilst noble, rationalise the irrational. I will, however, continue my efforts to ensure that governments and their apologists respect the right of people like myself who would rather see military expenditure go down and investment in the far greater weapons of health and education go up. With best wishes _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk