War Porn 139

 in Uncategorized by

With over 50,000 sorties already flown by allied aircraft against ISIL, it added nothing substantial for a tiny number of British jets to fly instantly after the Westminster vote to hit an oilfield in Syria. It was purely war porn, to provide all those pictures of jets taking off to excite the public and continue the propaganda. Worth noting that none of the mythical magical missiles that don’t kill civilians was used last night, just high explosive freefall bombs. The target is also a useful reminder that, as always, oil features prominently in neo-con foreign policy. MPs spoke openly in last night’s debate of breaking up Syria, which will be music to the ears of Genie Energy and Messrs Murdoch and Rothschild, and the Israeli government which astonishingly has already issued oil licences within Syria.

If we actually wanted to bomb the oilfields that fund ISIL, we would be bombing Saudi Arabia.

Scotland is being dragged into a war it voted near unanimously against. 96.5% of Scotland’s MPs voted against the airstrikes in Syra. On platforms all up and down this country, I argued that I do not care a damn about how strong powers are given to Scotland’s parliament in domestic affairs, it we are not a sovereign nation and can still be taken to war against our will. I was proud of Alex Salmond last night for expressing contempt at the notion that civilians are not killed in British airstrikes, a big lie nobody else directly challenged.

I am reassured that last night’s events must be yet another step along the road to independence, and will have invigorated SNP hearts against the temptation of being too comfortable at Westminster.

I don’t know how many oil engineers, or people who cook and clean for oil engineers, we incinerated last night, but the triumphalism of the Blairite warmongers over it is not a very edifying sight. It says something for the strength of the delusions entertained in the Blairite bubble that the fact that Hilary Benn’s speech led to the rafters echoing with Tories making HWOAR HWOAR noises, is taken by them as a massive sign of imminent triumph within the Labour Party. The 28% of Labour MPs who supported Cameron – which they did with explicit attacks on their own leader and on Labour members who were opposing the Tories – will be experiencing the shock of hangover as the heady moment of triumph seems a lot less clever the next day.

UPDATE: I have withdrawn a statement about British aircraft intercepting Russian aircraft, as my informant has been in touch to say they were in fact referring to an incident several days ago.

Allowed HTML - you can use: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

139 thoughts on “War Porn”

1 2 3 4 5
  • falloch

    Hansard 2 December, col. 327:
    Ian Paisley (North Antrim) (DUP): The Prime Minister will know how members of my party feel when it comes to fighting and dealing with terrorism, and for that there will always be support, no matter where terrorism raises its head. The motion states that

    “the Government will not deploy UK troops in ground combat operations”.

    If it becomes necessary at a later date to do that, will he guarantee that he will come back to this House to seek approval for that?

    The Prime Minister: This is something not only that I do not want to do, but that I think would be a mistake if we did it. The argument was made to us by the Iraqi Government that the presence of western ground troops can be a radicalising force and can be counterproductive, and that is our view. I would say to the hon. Gentleman, and to colleagues behind me who are concerned about this issue, that I accept that this means that our strategy takes longer to be successful, because we rely on Iraqi ground troops in Iraq, we rely on the patchwork of Free Syrian Army troops in Syria, and in time we hope for Syrian ground troops from a transitional regime. All of that takes longer, and one of the clear messages that has to come across today is that, yes, we do have a strategy, and although it is a complex picture and it will take time, we are acting in the right way.

    Cameron does NOT answer the member for North Antrim’s question, but wiggles and swerves. Boots on the ground: before, or after Christmas?

  • Tom

    I think most people in the British isles share your disgust – a fact carefully hidden by massaged polls and a bullying mainstream media, who are in the pockets of arms firms and foreign politicians.
    If there is any cause for optimism, I think this might have marked the moment when it became clear that wherever you are from, and whichever party you previously supported, most of our MPs are acting against the interests of the British people – they are not merely misguided but treacherous individuals who deserve to be brought to book.

  • Beth

    Next stage…..Get a few Syrians on TV claiming to speak for everyone, repeating the mantra that Assad is the real enemy not Isis. Well Assad and the sons, husbands and fathers in the Syrian army are definitely the enemy of Isis. Who are these people who would obviously prefer Saudi to what was the secular state of Syria?

  • Falsehood Flag

    The Leveson inquiry wasnt about the Press at all, it was a cunning ploy that buried Coulsons hacking of GB inbox for Cameron to win the 2010 election. Murdoch even wrote off the £300m NOTW to keep up the appearances.

    Cameron has done it again with his Brimstone, 70k, evil hamas/daesh spin, the Syria “airstrike” vote had all 600 MPs revved up (with fool Hilary Benn even quoting Franco !!), only to hide his real intention – Libya 2.0 regime change !!! Its only afterwards that Hammond admitted as much, they have envisaged a year of bombings at least.

  • BrianFujisan

    POIGNANT –

    Well said My MP Ronnie Cowan –

    Sitting in the House of Commons at 9am this morning, after this place voted to join the on-going bombing campaign in Syria, with a very heavy heart. My walk into work this morning was ponderous as my head was bursting with the events of last night. The protestors have gone, the riot police stood down and tourists clamour for photographs. The grand façade of the Palace of Westminster, more than ever, represents the imperial past hanging on grimly by its long boney fingers to the vestiges of power and influence. Conceit and arrogance in every brick.

    I am sitting on the benches before business of the day starts and a trickle of Tories are wandering in to place their prayer cards. They are positively buzzing with their victory. They are upbeat and energised. I am deflated and troubled. However for people so full of their own sense of importance they can’t meet my stare, eye to eye. As more filter in and their numbers grow, their chatter gets louder and more upbeat. They find comfort as a gang, mob mentality succours their actions, they laugh and joke, the enormity of last nights decision to bomb Syria seems lost on them already. They even joke that their majority will go up.

    First business is “oral questions: Culture media and sport” and immediately the mocking and jeering kicks in, the questions aren’t answered and its business as usual for the government.

  • comedy tent

    Say, who is this guy Hilary Benn? He’s a friend of the flag that’s for sure. Let’s get him stateside and show him a good time. Get him on the talkshows and give him a boost.

  • Beth

    About ten minutes ago on Sky news (Iwas flicking channels) some guy who used to be a speech writer for TB. He was bigging up Hillary and said the most astounding thing…..Constituents don’t want their MPS to do what their constituents want, they want them to make the best decision for them and their security.He then said that’s why polls
    are not important.

  • Ba'al Zevul

    Is it too soon to mention that all the hysteria about the international pissing contest and firmly-established clusterfuck in Syria has pretty effectively buried any discussion of COP21?

    Understandable, as the balloon Cameron has backed off anything resembling his manifesto pledges re. sustainable energy…

    http://www.theguardian.com/environment/cop-21-un-climate-change-conference-paris

    This was good, though:

    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/02/climate-change-david-cameron-bomb-syria-global-warming

  • Mark Golding

    It was purely war porn, to provide all those pictures of jets taking off to excite the public and continue the propaganda. Worth noting that none of the mythical magical missiles that don’t kill civilians was used last night, just high explosive freefall bombs. The target is also a useful reminder that, as always, oil features prominently in neo-con foreign policy. MPs spoke openly in last night’s debate of breaking up Syria, which will be music to the ears of Genie Energy and Messrs Murdoch and Rothschild, and the Israeli government which astonishingly has already issued oil licences within Syria.

    If we actually wanted to bomb the oilfields that fund ISIL, we would be bombing Saudi Arabia.

    Central statement by Craig that most of us are privileged to assimilate. For ‘others’ truth fails to deliver, especially in the minds of those who have sold their conscience and spirit to greed, to rational egoism and a moral code founded on the realities of a finite existence and the requirements, not the sanctity, of human life.

    I say this to ‘others’ and name President Erdogen and Hilary Benn as the residum of apathy – – you do not hold the lives of others in your hand; by dropping your bombs you harm civilians, you put an end to the lives of a thousand children with cluster bombs in Iraq, you burned out the lives of civilians with phosphorus in Fallugah, you suffocated lives with Sarin poisonous gas in Syria, with torture in black camps, and with assassinations of your own nationals.

    Quoting numbers, pages, resolutions and words from an International security body you created is in reality, hollow, vapid and futile. Britain and her 50 % elevated and dignified minds will not walk by on the other side of the road, no way, we will walk by on a path of good and chronicle your evil so that future generations can evolve earlier and flourish.

  • fedup

    Ian as you had asked;

    Here is the list of the Labour scum whom voted for mass murder. and destruction of Syrian peoples’ property, with a view to annexation of the said Syrian peoples’ lands, and theft of their resources at some future point;

    Labour:

    Adrian Bailey (West Bromwich West)

    Alan Campbell (Tynemouth)

    Alan Johnson (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)

    Alison McGovern (Wirral South)

    Angela Eagle (Wallasey)

    Angela Smith (Penistone and Stocksbridge)

    Ann Coffey (Stockport)

    Anna Turley (Redcar)

    Ben Bradshaw (Exeter)

    Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South)

    Caroline Flint (Don Valley)

    Chris Bryant (Rhondda)

    Chris Leslie (Nottingham East)

    Chuka Umunna (Streatham)

    Colleen Fletcher (Coventry North East)

    Conor McGinn (St Helens North)

    Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central)

    Emma Reynolds (Wolverhampton North East)

    Frank Field (Birkenhead)

    Gareth Thomas (Harrow West)

    Geoffrey Robinson (Coventry North West)

    George Howarth (Knowsley)

    Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston)

    Gloria De Piero (Ashfield)

    Graham Jones (Hyndburn)

    Harriet Harman (Camberwell and Peckham)

    Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East)

    Helen Jones (Warrington North)

    Hilary Benn (Leeds Central)

    Holly Lynch (Halifax)

    Ian Austin (Dudley North)

    Jamie Reed (Copeland)

    Jenny Chapman (Darlington)

    Jim Dowd (Lewisham West and Penge)

    Jim Fitzpatrick (Poplar and Limehouse)

    Joan Ryan (Enfield North)

    John Spellar (Warley)

    John Woodcock (Barrow and Furness)

    Keith Vaz (Leicester East)

    Kevan Jones (North Durham)

    Kevin Barron (Rother Valley)

    Liz Kendall (Leicester West)

    Louise Ellman (Liverpool, Riverside)

    Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree)

    Lucy Powell (Manchester Central)

    Margaret Beckett (Derby South)

    Margaret Hodge (Barking)

    Maria Eagle (Garston and Halewood)

    Mary Creagh (Wakefield)

    Michael Dugher (Barnsley East)

    Neil Coyle (Bermondsey and Old Southwark)

    Pat McFadden (Wolverhampton South East)

    Peter Kyle (Hove)

    Phil Wilson (Sedgefield)

    Ruth Smeeth (Stoke-on-Trent North)

    Simon Danczuk (Rochdale)

    Siobhain McDonagh (Mitcham and Morden)

    Stella Creasy (Walthamstow)

    Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth)

    Susan Elan Jones (Clwyd South)

    Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)

    Tom Watson (West Bromwich East)

    Tristram Hunt (Stoke-on-Trent Central)

    Vernon Coaker (Gedling)

    Wayne David (Caerphilly)

    Yvette Cooper (Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford)

    Manifestly the millionaires posing as philanthropists and defenders of the “working class”

  • tris

    I see that clapping, once banned, being considered discourteous and unparliamentary, is allowed again.

  • Ba'al Zevul

    Lol @ Beth. I’m wondering which of Blair’s speechwriters wrote Benn’s outburst. Someone’s mentoring him for sure. And while we’re talking about fascists, which he was (Daesh are no such thing: they are salafi fundamentalists with no scruples whatever and would regard Hitler as decadently liberal)…An hour marked by destiny is striking in the sky of our fatherland, eh, Hilary?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vf_gUvPVUU

    But if the Blair claque thinks Benn is any more electable than a YouTube kitten, think again. The electoral boundaries have now been gerrymandered to the extent that an equal national vote would still leave Labour 49 seats down. Think he’ll even question that? I don’t.

    The usual crowd loved it: Aaronovitch, Max Hastings … and if Guido Fawkes gives you favourable coverage, you know you’re a neocon. He does.

  • lwtc247

    Craig, if Scotland secured independence, could it bring Blair and Cameron etc up for war crimes? If so, do you think it would?

  • J Galt

    Craig re your remarks regarding the Russians “turning back”.

    Yes an incident near Cyprus would make more sense – perhaps a wee test of British reactions?

  • Julian

    The news today said we had bombed an oil field in Syria. I wondered about the oil field workers. I somehow doubt they are ISIS and if they have any bomb shelters. I expect there are ISIS thugs coercing them, but I bet they will be put down on any list as “ISIS” rather than “Civilian Casualties”.It is absurd that we have done thousands of airstrikes in Iraq and “not caused any civilian casualties”.

  • Phil

    The strikes could have simply hit pipelines. To say there must have been civilian casualties when we don’t even know what was hit is ridiculous IMO.

  • Iain Orr

    Having looked at the 66 Labour MPs who voted to bomb Syria, while some are congenital Blairites [in this context, interventionists who think it right to support military industries as one of the UK’s bigger export sectors, especially to Saudi Arabia], a number are not. Some will genuinely have found the decision a hard one, though probably not as hard as the decision of the seven Conservative rebels. I am not in favour of vindictive de-selection. As Craig has suggested, the rule should be selection by constituency party members of the candidates for each general election, including the current MP if s/he is wishes to stand for re-selection. I expect [prediction, not preference] that many of the 66 will be re-selected, even though that will include some whom I would fervently prefer to be replaced by better MPs in the next parliament.

  • Phil

    “Before our aircrew conducted their attacks, as is normal they used the aircraft’s advanced sensors to confirm that no civilians were in the proximity of the targets, who might be placed at risk.” From the MoD.

  • Geoffrey

    I note most Lib/Dems including Tim Farron and Nick Clegg voted to bomb. They must now surely just be an irrelevance.

  • Tony M

    Farage and UKIP were created to make opposition to the EU look objectionable and parochial.
    Nevertheless the EU is repugnant. If you want to put a spoke in the wheels of runaway corporatism vote, if ever given the opportunity, to exit the EU.

    Benn Snr. was, Hilary Benn is part of the Fabian/Neo-con cancerous appendage of the Labour party. They are eugenecists, still imagining they’re in the late 19th century, using warped Darwinism as their bedrock, they don’t mind fascism or totalitarian socialism as long as the ruling class, to which they imagine they belong and believe they have enduring entitlement, sit atop of the heap. It fused with Zionism then spawned Nazism long ago. Here’s what Fabian idol George Bernard Shaw said in 1920: “You would not be allowed to be poor. You would be forcibly fed, clothed, lodged, taught, and employed whether you like it or not. If it were discovered that you have not character and industry, you might possibly be executed in a kindly manner.“

    Modern day Fabian prophet Zbigniew Brzezinski in 1970: “It will soon be possible to assert almost continuous control over every citizen and to maintain up-to-date files containing even the most personal details about health and personal behaviour of every citizen, in addition to the more customary data. These files will be subject to instantaneous retrieval by the authorities.”

    This is what has infected the Labour Party since it’s foundation. The Tory disease, it’s incurable.

    Is Da’Cameron bombing Grangemouth yet?

  • Anon1

    Phil made a good point earlier, that a number of commenter’s here were suggesting the way to deal with ISIS is to take out their supply lines. Now we are doing just that they are still whinging. You can’t win because ultimately these commenter’s hate this country and will oppose it whatever it does, whilst loving everything that Russia does.

1 2 3 4 5

Comments are closed.