My email stated:
Thankfully I am not a politician. A good politician I am sure could argue that much of the current situation where one looks at blameworthiness based on who struck the first blow could be taken back, before the times of the USSR WWII or even WWI travelling even further through time to say the Roman invasion of England. Some could even argue that the Pharaohs are ultimately to blame for the the ongoing disasters in Syria Iraq etc.
I recall as a boy in Istanbul 50 years ago there were riots when a US aircraft carrier visited the port. The Turkish Fruko came out in force, guns blazing and killed 3 rioters - narrowly missing my traveling companion and myself. The Vietnam war itself was course was a disaster which the US should not have entered though Vietcong were no saints either.
My own view is that the Christian message of turning the other cheek applies.
Thus the bombing of hospitals on Syria by Russian and Syrian jets is dreadfully wrong whatever the US and UK may have done elsewhere or whatever arms we are supplying to say Saudi to fulfill its quest for killing elsewhere. If those marching say against Tony Blair's decision to send UK troops to Iraq were today marching against the Russian bombing then their position would clearly be humanitarian rather than political but sadly they are not.
My own views generally are that wars are invariably wrong to become involved in though where a country subjugates the whole female half of the human race as in Afghanistan the world should unite against that with arms if necessary - all imho of course. I suppose the UK and US had to become involved with WWII given the dreadful criminal Hitler was?
Sadly war invariably causes large numbers of innocent babies, children, women and men to die or suffer appalling human suffering and injuries.
A possible conclusion then is that even where dreadful politicians are involved in subjugating and killing their own peoples, almost invariably the Christian involvement with war should be limited to helping the innocent victims.
A possible conclusion then is that even where dreadful politicians are involved in subjugating and killing their own peoples, almost invariably the Christian involvement with war should be limited to helping the innocent victims.
Interesting that the part of my email/post above reading:
ReplyDeleteIf those marching say against Tony Blair's decision to send UK troops to Iraq were today marching against the Russian bombing then their position would clearly be humanitarian rather than political but sadly they are not.
Seems since to have been taken up by politicians including the Foreign Secretary who suggests that those who marched against the US/UK in a past Middle East war should now do so against the Russians.