John Galloway on Iraq

John Galloway, MP in Northern Ireland, was interviewed on the 'Today' programme this morning (BBC, Radio 4). This is from memory; it's not a verbatim account.

BBC: You must be happy now that Saddam is overthrown.

JG: I am happy.

BBC: But isn't that a contradiction as you are opposed to this war?

JG: The ends do not justify the means. The difference between me and Mr Bush and Mr Blair is that I am opposed to all dictatorships at all times, not to some dicatorships sometimes. The fact remains that the US props up most of the world's dictatorships, including those in the immediate region around Iraq.

BBC: But the people in Baghdad were celebrating. We saw jubilant crowds on TV.

JG: They were not very large jubilant crowds. They are not representative of Baghdad as a whole. They were from the Shiite districts of Baghdad. We have let the genie of Shiite fundamentalism out of the bottle.

BBC: But wasn't this war short and sharp, as Bush and Blair promised?

JG: It's not short and sharp for those who lost a loved one; it's very jagged for those. It's jagged for those lying in hospitals without proper medical aid.

***

I had my first Iraq-war dream last night. Am also haunted by that 12-year old boy who lost both his arms, both his parents and all of his brothers and sisters when his house in Baghdad was bombed by Americans. He was asking hospital nurses to help him commit suicide.

John + Martin + me

1. John. What I forgot.

John Galloway also said the following on the BBC:

BBC: You must be sorry now that you criticised the war because it was over quickly, just as Blair and Bush promised.

JG: No, that doesn't change my position. The justification for the war was claimed to be that Saddam posed an international threat but it turns out he can't even muster enough troops to defend his own palaces properly.

2. Martin. Renaissance-theologian-slash!

Find it here and scream:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/lobelia321/107714.html
(scroll through comments; slash and links distributed throughout)

3. Me + my niche
In my recent uploading frenzy, I also updated my own site.

New recs, with fics by eyebrowofdoom, cupiscent, thamiris, cimorene111 and zarah5. Trivial fact: My recs page gets an average of 155 hits every month. Heh, let's hope they're all reading and feedbacking!

New fics, incl. orcish snippets, improvs, "The Orc's Tongue" and "History".

Some new pics , incl. ones for still-not-finished Karl/Dom epic.

4. Off to my conference tomorrow! Paper still not printed out but more or less finished. See you all on Monday! *waves*

Just before I go....

Paper finished! *wipes brow* Slides sorted! *wipes, er, other brow*

Still need to pack.

Perverse final thought: (occasioned by Rum. Slash. Lashes. And Pirates of the Caribbean)

Is there any Jim Knopf slash out there?