Let's hear the truth, not lies
By Bob Ellis
A LOT of lies told in the last two weeks have hurt the things we believe
in, or believed in once, and they should, perhaps, be listed.
That the attack on the World Trade Centre was the "worst terrorist act in
history". Not by a long chalk. The firebombing of Dresden killed 135,000
people, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima 120,000 people, and at Nagasaki
80,000 people. None of these were military targets, and their fiery ruin,
by the British and the Americans, was terrorism. The 800,000 killed in a
few weeks in Rwanda, probably, outstrips even these.
That the young hijackers were "cowards who strike and run away". No, they
were very brave and they did not run away. They eagerly died for their
cause at the point of impact over New York.
That the terrorist attack was "an act of madness". It was not. It achieved
a sane end, a real truce in Israel, and it powerfully publicised the daily
suffering of the Third World under the unfeeling market capitalism of the
First World.
That it "unified world leadership behind George W. Bush". This is not so.
Most world leaders think him dangerously erratic and deplore his
inadvertent use of anti-Muslim vocabulary likely to unify the Arab world
against him.
Most think a world-wide hunt for a man who looks like 40 million other men
is lunacy. The man is rich, he could shave off his beard, buy a Mexican
passport, settle in Austin, Texas and open a bookshop and no-one would know.
That the evil boffin behind the fiery act was Osama bin Laden. Almost
certainly not so. The hijackers put on scarlet headscarves, as Shi'ites do
when about to die in a jihad. bin Laden is a Sunni. Shi'ites and Sunnis are
mortal enemies and fought in the 1980s a war much like World War I against
each other, when bin Laden was in his twenties. He is most unlikely to have
involved a sworn foe in his plans.
That terrorism can be ended by a long, careful, world-wide war against it.
No way. Terrorism has been around since the first wars of Cro-Magnons and
Neanderthals and a feature of the Middle East since 1400BC.
Joshua's armies were terrorists. King David was a terrorist. George
Washington was a terrorist. Michael Collins. Begin. Nelson Mandela.
Sharon's pre-emptive shooting and rocket bombing of suspects is terrorism.
Belfast will suffer terrorist acts for decades yet, and so will those parts
of Spain attacked by the Basques and so, while a Chechnyan yet lives, will
Russia.
That "infinite justice" is possible. It is not. A thousand Iraqi children
die of starvation each month because of American policy. This is in no way
just, and the future suicide bombers who are their siblings and cousins
know it.
That "many Afghans" fleeing the Taliban are "not genuine refugees". Anyone
fleeing the Taliban, which forbids paid work and medical treatment to
women, is a refugee from a tyranny.
That Afghans coming here on boats are "queue-jumpers". There is no queue in
Afghanistan. There is no Australian embassy. There is no place to queue up.
No place at all. Mostly a lot of rubble. And across the border in the
stinking refugee camps of Pakistan, children die daily. It makes no sense
to "queue" in these conditions.
That the Tampa boat people were "hijackers", or some of them were. If they
were they can be tried in an nternational court for piracy and be hanged
for it. Ruddock does not believe they should be. This being so, he was lying.
That the Tampa boat people were not prisoners, and were "free to go
anywhere except Australia". They were prisoners, forbidden phone calls,
faxes, e-mails and visits by Red Cross. Photographers were forbidden access
to them. Reporters could not speak to them.
These have been some of the lies told in the past three weeks. They make us
wonder what the free Press is for. If it only ever slavishly publishes the
Official Story of one side of politics it is not free, or else it is so
incompetent as to shame us all.
In a time of war and rumours of war it is important that the truth be
known. If the Australian Press is hiding it or any fraction of it we should
know why.
--
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