Newspaper article (by me!)

[Barry the Sprout]

I have not really come back as such. I still think I am better off lurking at present but here is an article I wouldn't mind some feedback from. It is an article I have written for my student newspaper. Just wondered what you guys thought of it really:
(Note - the Stop the War week was a week of speaker events, e.g. Tony Benn and Yvonne Ridley, that me and some friends organised to try and raise awareness about the war and let people know who we are)


This is an article primarily about the Stop the War week and the coalition that organised it. Before, during, and after the week we have been slandered and our words have been twisted. This article sums up my thoughts on the matter, and many other people’s as well.
Often we have been described as not looking to the future, seeing only the bad in the present situation and not recognising the good that may come out of it. I would point out that one of the central reasons for my opposition to the war is that it will probably create another hundred Bin Ladens in its wake. This action, even from the point of view of UK and US citizens is likely to make the world a much more dangerous place for years to come. The generation of terrorists being created in Afghanistan is not going to become apparent in Blair’s time in office. Western foreign policy has always been marked by its short-term gains, in this case electoral ones. So who is not looking to the future?
Also we are often accused of anti-American sentiment. There are those who say that the world’s problems do not stem entirely from America and I would wholeheartedly agree with them. Whilst I believe that this is an Imperialist war I do not believe that America is the only Imperialist country. Just ask any Irish Catholic or Chechen rebel. Opposition from the left has a habit of being labelled “anti-American”, something I find particularly ironic in this case as the editor of the STW newsletter is an American himself.
So I move to the idea that the STW coalition shows no feeling for the victims in America. I feel that whilst the attacks of 11th September were horrible they cannot be the justification for more death. The action being taken now will not bring justice or safety to America. It will likely instead bring a spiral of hate and violence simply killing more innocents. We are constantly asked to “Never Forget” but we must remember that people on the other side of the world will be saying the same thing after we have destroyed their homes. No one in the STW coalition wants to simply ignore the attacks, but this is not the best way out of the problem. We must remember what created this problem if we wish to solve it.
Another criticism often made is that suddenly everyone seems to be an expert on the Taliban when no one cared before the 11th September. I think there is some truth in this. I for one will freely admit that I knew nothing about Afghanistan before then. But I honestly think that this criticism can be made of the pro-war camp as well. Now that we almost control the country and have little to show for it our leaders are starting to emphasise more and more the new-found freedom of Afghanistan without the Taliban.
But I would ask if the Taliban needed removing this badly, why didn’t we do it earlier? I might almost go so far as to say that we shouldn’t have put them in power. Yes, I know it is said a lot at present but you have to admit that it is a tricky question for our current world leaders. It would appear that the only gain of the war so far is to have removed a regime with a terrible human rights record, which we put into power in the first place.
So what do we replace it with? The Northern Alliance, who have an even worse human rights record and whose leaders hate each other (although admittedly this appears to be in vogue for governments at present). The sad fact is that if we put the Northern Alliance in power life will go on just the same for the majority of people in Afghanistan (except for those considered Taliban sympathisers, for whom life will not go on at all).
This brings me back full circle, to the point that we are stuck in the past. I point to the history of the area because if we ignore it then we will not learn from it. If the Northern Alliance are put into government then history has a very good chance of repeating itself.
So what are the other options Blair and Bush are left with? Noises are being made about an all-inclusive government. The most worrying thing about this is that if it is truly to be all-inclusive and have popular support then it must include either the Taliban or the Northern Alliance. I think most people would agree that the chances of the Taliban being let back into government are slim. So we are left with the possibility of a government with a worse human rights record than before, or a government with no popular support: one that will face heavy resistance and probably have to be backed up by a US/UK peacekeeping force.
So the prospects for Afghanistan look bleak. We are at present creating a large guerrilla force with a hatred of the west merely fuelled by our seeming occupation of their country. As I am “stuck in the past” I think this is blindingly obvious. As Bush and Blair seem content on ignoring the past we can expect a lot more bloodshed to come.

[Ronn_Bman]

Barry, I think it's a very good article. Just like your posts in this forum. Intelligent, well thought out, and a legitimate opinion which is not inflammatory and is based on your idea of the greater good.

I don't agree with it [img]smile.gif[/img] , but it is a very good article. [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[Chewbacca]

Even if I disagreed with your viewpoint, I would say it is well put.

[Ronn_Bman]

quote:

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Originally posted by Chewbacca:
Even if I disagreed with your viewpoint, I would say it is well put.

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Indeed!

[Ryanamur]

Very good article Barry (and I DO agree with pretty much all you said) [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[Argus]

Excellent article. Though I can't say I agree with all of your points, I will say that I agree with, and respect, your stance. Namely, we must all put our heads and hearts together to ensure that tragic events as 9/11 do not happen again. You may have a different idea as to how to ensure this from myself (or others) but no one can doubt your desire for (as Ronn said quite well) a greater good.

[Morgan_Corbesant]

good article, but im affraid its a BIT wrong, at least in my perspective. i dont see it causing any more bin hidens. the taliban is all but finished at this point, and a new system of government is being built as we speak. as far as im concerned, you have NO clue what you are saying, for you arent from this country, so you havent seen what it has done. good, hard-working citizens like myself, have lost our jobs over this travesty. i may have to rejoin the military, just to make ends-meat. try having a familiy member in one of those towers, or planes, and then say we should do nothing. i suppose we could have said" ok bin hiden, that was a nice one, but we would apprieciate it if you would keep your suicide cowards to yourself", and then just forget the whole thing. it doesnt work that way. America didnt get where it is today because it backed down. just be glad that kabul isnt a smoking, glowing in the dark, CRATER!!!

like i said, its a good article, and a good argument to my opinions. i just love this type of debate stuff is all, [img]smile.gif[/img]

[img]graemlins/ninja.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/ninja.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/ninja.gif[/img]

[norompanlasolas]

Well put and well written. I agree with most of what you say.

The big problem of disagreeing with the war is being called a terrorist, or attracting violence. This is because this is seen like a battle between good and evil, black and white. Sadly, the leaders of the countries involved in the war do nothing and even encourage this. We are ruled by fanatics, different, but also the same as Bin Laden.

[AzureWolf]

quote:

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Originally posted by Morgan_Corbesant:
America didnt get where it is today because it backed down.

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I couldnt help answering back at this one [img]tongue.gif[/img]
Yes America didnt get where it is today because it backed down, instead it trod roughshod over the bodies of lands of native indians.

[Barry the Sprout]

quote:

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Originally posted by AzureWolf:


I couldnt help answering back at this one [img]tongue.gif[/img]
Yes America didnt get where it is today because it backed down, instead it trod roughshod over the bodies of lands of native indians.

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Nicely put Azure.

Brief update. The article is published tomorrow in the newspaper. The only editorial changes are that they have removed the word "slander" from the opening paragraph for legal reasons and have changed some of the paragraph openers. I had a tendancy to start every paragraph with "So..." which gets a little repetitive.

I'm quite proud. Can you tell?

But seriously. Thanks very much guys. The editor said it was a good article because it doesn't try and ram the opinion down the readers throat. That is a habit I think I have picked up entirely because of IW. So thanks very much to all of you.