Month: July 2016

How long more will Erdogan actually last?

Posted on by El_Numerito

When I tuned in to Euronews last Friday night to see that Turkey was in the midst of a coup, my first reaction was of the expletive kind, as you can imagine.  The reports we so conflicting that I could not quite get my head round what was happening.  Were the army in control, were they out numbered by police, it was all very unclear.

I have to admit that as the news broke, I was quietly happy. Happy for ordinary Turks.  I had no doubt about the discipline of the Turkish Army.  I didn’t think for one minute that they were going to cause any harm to the population.  After all, what is an army in a Democracy than a defender of the constitution, which the ‘Peace Council’ said had been eroded by the Erdogan regime.

I use words like regime because that is exactly what Erdogan is running.  Turkey masquerades as a democracy but there is nothing democratic about the the erosion or civil rights, silencing of freedom of speech, nationalizing newspapers and sacking people for civil service jobs for jumped up reasons.

As the news became more clear and it was obvious that the coup had failed, I began to ask questions of the the events that were unfolding in front of my eyes.  Firstly how did the government know who to arrest, so soon after the failed coup, secondly, why were over 2000 members of the Judiciary sacked, thirdly what was the rational behind the sacking of over 15000 teachers?

There is a newly formed conspiracy theory doing the rounds, that Erdogan orchestrated the entire coup to consolidate his power and fulfill his egotistic ambitions.  Only history will reveal the answer to this.

Turkey is a democracy in erosion, every day the citizenry are becoming more and more disenfranchised.  Like a cancerous tumor, it starts off small, growing everyday,  until one day it kills you.

It is certainly worth watch over the next number of weeks to see exactly how the Erdogan Coup attempt pans out.  Who will actually be blamed and how long more will Erdogan last as president of Turkey?

To be continued….

Chilcot report is a damning indictment of Tony Blair

Posted on by El_Numerito

 

The publication of the Chilcot report is a damning indictment of Tony Blair’s judgement and his entire career in politics. The report found that “all peaceful options were not exhausted” before the UK joined the US in declaring war on Iraq. It also found that further sanctions and monitoring would have curtailed any alleged ambitions Saddam Hussein had to develop Weapons of Mass Destruction.

The principles of jus ad bellum, clearly define that the aim of war must not be to pursue narrowly defined national interests, but rather to re-establish a just peace. This peace should be preferable to the state of peace had the war not occurred. It also states that there must be a Probability of Success and most importantly only as a Last Resort.

The reality is that the USA with the UK were pursuing narrowly defined national interests. It is no coincidence that Iraq has oil resources. This war completely unraveled the economic, social and religious fabric of Iraq and plunged it into 13 continuous years of war. Most notably it gave birth to one of the most barbaric terrorist organisations to have existed – ISIS.

That invasion sowed the seeds of revolution in the Arab world and brought civil war, conflict and destruction to millions of innocent people. The refugee crisis currently being witnessed in Europe is a direct result of American and British jingoism and the lurid ambitions of two egotists. It cannot be attributed to anything else since the reasons people are fleeing the Middle East have their roots firmly in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The question now is, if Tony Blair will face any charges for his role in the 2003 invasion or is the International Criminal Court reserved for 3rd World despots who have fallen out of favour with their 1st World financiers? The reality is that Blair’s decision to take the UK to war in Iraq in 2003 falls outside the Court’s jurisdiction. In other words Blair will walk away scot free, as will George W Bush.

If justice is ever to be served, if the victims of neo-imperial violence are ever to be acknowledged, then Tony Blair and George W Bush should be held accountable and stand trial at the ICC. No man should be above the law. No state, no matter how powerful should determine the fate of another or the future of its unborn generations.