Wars We Should Be Fighting


Vernon Coleman


Since war criminal Tony Blair used imaginary weapons of mass destruction to drag us into an entirely unnecessary and immoral war on Iraq the British people have been constantly at war. We are currently bombing and killing people in three different countries. (In all of which there is, by coincidence, a strong American oil interest.)

Now the Cameron-Clegg Fiasco (it seems grandiose to call it a coalition) has started yet another bloody war. And they don't seem to me to be desperately keen to stick to the ground rules laid down by the United Nations.

Cameron, Clegg and Hague have ensured that Britons will continue to be the world's prime targets for terrorists. Even the Americans shied away from attacking Gaddafi too strenuously. But heavily guarded Cameron and Hague have recklessly risked the lives of British nationals everywhere by making Britain the prime target for militant Muslims.

And just why? Bad things happen in China, Zimbabwe and several dozen other countries around the globe. In what way is Gaddafi worse than Mugabe?

Why must we piss off Muslims every time? (Don't mention the fact that they seem to have all the oil.)

Hague's disastrous weeks have drawn attention to his shortcomings. Is he, perhaps, still distracted by those `gay' allegations? Is he desperate to prove himself Mr Macho?

Like Blair and the Labour party idiots the Fiasco bozos are missing the real issues.

Every day of every week of every month of every year more than 21,000 people die unnecessarily. They die in terror and in pain. Every day - every single day - six times as many people are callously killed by the world's large corporations as were killed by whichever band of terrorists attacked America on September 11th. Today, tomorrow and every day.

The truth is that there is a bigger war our leaders should be fighting. And that's a war against the greed of global capitalism (led by corporate America). That's the war which would truly save millions of lives, make the world a better place and enable more people to enjoy physical, mental and spiritual good health.

But that's a war our leaders will never fight. Because they are part of the problem.

Look at the big issues - and what our so-called leaders are doing to deal with them.

1. Every year several million people in America and Europe die from cancer. The vast majority of cancers are preventable. We know what causes eight out of ten cancers. The simplest and most obvious truth is that meat causes cancer. Simply persuading people to stop eating meat would save millions of lives. To that truth we must add the fact that current methods of cancer treatment are destructive and ineffective - the cancer `industry' has consistently suppressed new therapies which might work and promoted therapies (surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy) which kill people. If politicians cared a damn they could reduce cancer deaths by 80% without any effort.

2. Heart disease is a major killer. Every day far more Britons die from heart disease than have ever died in terrorism attacks. Most cases of heart disease could be prevented. Most people with heart disease can be cured with a simple regime which costs almost nothing to follow and which is more effective than drugs and surgery.

Who benefits? Food and tobacco companies. And drug companies.

Who loses? You, your family and your friends.

3. The so-called drinking water you get out of your tap is full of chemicals. What do these chemicals do to your body? Who knows?

What are our leaders doing about this? Nothing.

Who benefits? Big water companies.

Who loses? You, your family and your friends.

4. Infectious diseases are coming back in a big way.

Antibiotics are no longer effective. One reason is that farmers are allowed to put antibiotics into animal feed to boost farm profits.

What is the Government doing about this? Nothing.

Who benefits? Drug companies and farmers.

Who loses? You, your family and your friends.

5. The food available in our shops is so bereft of essential ingredients that in order to stay healthy we all need to swallow vitamin and mineral supplements.

What are the politicians doing bout this? Nothing.

Who benefits? Farmers and food companies.

Who loses? You, your family and your friends.

Of course terrorism is bad. But allowing people to die unnecessarily of cancer, heart disease and infectious diseases is also wrong. It is just as wrong. The people who die of cancer and heart disease will suffer more than the people who die suddenly in a terrorist explosion. The mourning of relatives and friends will be just as real.

All unnecessary deaths are awful - both for those who die and for those who are left behind. We should be doing everything we can to prevent them.

Our governments have chosen to put all their current (and, probably, future) effort into one target - terrorism - which suits them and which will not cost them corporate friends.

The politicians aren't fighting the unending wars to preserve our freedom. They are fighting for money and for oil. And they are fighting to distract us from the real wars we should be fighting.

Deaths from cancer and heart disease are not usually dramatic. People who die from these diseases don't die on television. They don't become heroes. But cancer and heart disease are a much bigger threat to most families than terrorism will ever be.

The loathsome duo Cameron and Clegg et al are fighting the wrong war. If they really cared about people they would be fighting the global corporations which are destroying the world - and creating injustice, frustration, poverty, pain and illness on a massive scale - both among Christians and Muslims. They should be fighting the global corporations which are knowingly killing millions through their ruthlessly wicked profit-making policies.

But the Fiasco won't fight that war. For them the price (in perks and campaign contributions) would be far too high.

The ultimate irony is surely the fact that if this world really needs a war then multi-national corporations should be on one side and the rest of us - Muslims and Christians - should be fighting shoulder to shoulder against them.

Our leaders have for years turned a blind eye to the world's real problems. They have forsaken the sick, the dying, the hungry and the bereaved so as not to distress their corporate masters.

Now they want to us to cheer them on in wars very few people understand, that will probably never end and that aren't even just. Meanwhile they do nothing to protect us from the very real threats which affect us every day of our lives.

Copyright Vernon Coleman 2011

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