"Even if I got rid of all my problems, I'd just go out and get new ones..."

Annual witch burning time folks!
1:05 p.m. on 2004-05-12

Twenty six year old Nick Berg was decapitated by a group of Iraqis affiliated with Al-Qaeda.

This is horrific. It's horrible, immoral, nasty, and I feel for the victim's family.

It was also stupid of the group doing the killings. This has given America the perfect opportunity to deflect attention away from the actions of Coalition Forces in Iraqi prisons, and they can once again claim "We're the good guys" by pointing to this evil action.

Ah yes. 'Evil.' Funny how that word is throw around so much. Truth is, calling either side 'evil' is oversimplifying matters just a tad.

I find it a little rich that those pro-war, pro-Bush Americans cling to their persona as the 'heroes' and point to this murder as an example of how Iraq is full of blood-thirsty demons who should all be wiped out.

Yes, it's a bit rich, coming from the country which annually executes the mentally incapacitated, which keeps people imprisoned under inhuman conditions for years, without access to lawyers or even charging them with an actual crime. The country which is now threatening to make a loving union between two grown adults illegal, which disenfranchises huge sections of society to arrange for a particular side to win, which denies the vote to ex-felons, which threatens to ban abortion. The country which sold chemical weapons to Saddam Hussein in the late 80s, weapons which were used to kill thousands of Iraqi Kurds and Iranians.

Yes, this group in Iraq brutally beheaded an American civilian. This cannot be justified. But it can be explained.

According to recent photos, film footage, and reports from the Red Cross and Amnesty International, Coalition Forces have been guilty of torturing, raping, and killing Iraqi prisoners - many of whom have since been released without charges. Iraq was invaded on the basis of a series of seriously flawed documents, secrets held from ministers, and the claim that Iraq held WoMD - claims which have now been proved (by any independent party) to be incorrect. Invaded without the agreement of the UN, or even the support of a majority of the people within the invading countries.

All this, and the American government continues to insist on separating the Western World and the Arab World (last time I checked, we all lived on the same planet), and use terms like 'battleplan' and 'insurgents' to describe their post-war actions, and cosy up to China (a country guilty of gross human rights abuses and continuing to illegally occupy Tibet).

Meh. After all this in the news, I was then forced to listen to Alastair Campbell being interviewed by Jeremy Vine.

I need to shower...

Listening to: Keane "Somewhere Only We Know"

Quote: "God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs..."
"Dinosaurs eat man. Woman inherits the earth."

PS: Anyone else find THIS interesting?

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