Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

I beg you, Mr Blair: listen to the world's women (gag)
The Independent (U.K.) ^ | 02/10/03 | Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

Posted on 02/10/2003 1:01:41 PM PST by Pokey78

Allow me, please, to go all womanly on you: emotional, weepy, unable to stomach one more lie, threat, excuse or justification being put out by our Machiavellian leaders who want this war against Iraq and are damn well going to get it. Tony Blair and Colin Powell have delivered their ultimatum and the world had better just take it on the chin, like a man.

These two are powerfully built, and brawny; George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Jack Straw and Alistair Campbell are tough males, too, and don't they just want us to know that. These buddies are not for turning, whatever their own people say or think. Meanwhile, Saddam Hussein, with his monstrous ego and vicious cruelty strides his part of the world, happy to sacrifice his people to what we are about to do to them. The terrible things to come are in the hands of a war-lust gang of men once again, with the exception of Condoleezza Rice, who looks anything but warlike in her demure fashion.

But then such women are always on hand, albeit very few compared to the vast number of indomitable male warrior-leaders through history – Margaret Thatcher, Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi, Madeleine Albright were as ruthless as the worst of men. When the American journalist Lesley Stahl asked Ms Albright in 1996 what she felt about the fact that more Iraqi children appeared to have died as a result of sanctions than did in Hiroshima, the cold reply was: "This is a hard choice but the price, I think, is worth it."

So I won't make any simplistic assertions about man-unkind, women-kind. But a female view of this war does need to raise a scream, because we are nearly there and no rational arguments have dented the warlike ambitions of Mr Bush and Mr Blair. I wake up crying after frightful dreams, guilt too, that my nation is becoming such a bully in a volatile world where already too much misery and fear are present.

So I beg you Sirs, I plead: listen to the women in the Middle East, in Iraq, in the UK and the US. Look at your own families. (A black US congressman, Charlie Rangle, has just called for conscription into the US armed forces to be reintroduced after he discovered that only one national politician has a son in the army. These wars are easier to go into when you and yours are as safe as can be). Mrs Blair wept on camera in front of the nation because her oldest son was going to university an hour and a half away. She asked us to understand her feelings, how hard, how worrying it all is when our children leave home.

Today this mother, and feisty human-rights lawyer, sleeps with a man who cannot be thinking about the silent Iraqi homes where no children will be coming home during vacations or where they will howl as they watch the delivery of the bloodied bodies of their fathers (conscripts, none of them the sons of President Saddam or Tariq Aziz, the deputy leader, or any of the elite) and perhaps their mothers, uncles, cousins, neighbours.

Things are bad enough already. Many Iraqi children and teenagers in particular are so terrorised by our merciless threats over so many months that they have turned to valium smuggled in from neighbouring countries. Mental illness too is sweeping through distressed families.

Over the long years I have been writing about our policies in Iraq – which have added immeasurably to the misery and fear of people already living under their dictator – some Iraqi children and their mothers have been sending me little letters, sometimes photographs, usually through visitors they meet in Baghdad. The latest missive arrived last Friday, just a letter asking me to tell "the English people, who are kind" that they are really frightened and that when we start (no point in saying "if" any more) President Saddam will round up children, pregnant mothers and place them in areas where they can die spectacularly. So then who will be the murderers of these innocents, him or us? Oh I forget. We are going to liberate these people, surely even a woman can understand that? No, not really.

Even if the cocktail of truth and lies which was presented by General Powell and Mr Blair did have enough in it to "prove" that more is going on in Iraq than we imagine, do British mothers, daughters, lovers and sisters think we are doing the right thing going into a war where the poor people of Iraq will become victimised even more by both sides?

Think about it. You are a mother of three children living in Baghdad. You have been reduced to an impoverished life and forced to sell everything, including your children's toys – one of the most poignant sights in Iraq is the lines of dolls on pavements put on sale by desperate families. Maybe your husband is a scientist who hates President Saddam. Mr Blair asks you if it is OK by you that they come in and bomb Iraq – which will lead to civilian deaths – but liberation will follow, and maybe a nice American uncle will take charge afterwards, a man who will not be as horrible as Saddam, not ever. I know what I would choose and it would not be war.

It is true that some Iraqis in exile want this war. Their children are out of danger, so such bravery by proxy is easy for them. It may even be true that some Iraqis inside the blighted country seek release, so wretched are their lives. But I do not believe that they would make this choice if they understood just what overwhelming force we mean to use. Iraqi children are still dying of cancers and other illnesses that specialists believe can be traced to the weapons we used. The truth about these we will never be told, as suffering Gulf veterans have found to their cost. Heck, we are the good guys after all. A UN report confirms that more Iraqi children will die in this conflict than did in Afghanistan because Afghani children were spread across the open countryside whereas in Iraq the cities are still highly populated with families.

I am not a pacifist and do accept that sometimes military interventions – in spite of the bloodshed – bring with them better times. But, as a woman and a mother, I will not support the assault on Iraq because it has nothing to do with justice and everything to do with the fact that the new, macho imperialists have been outwitted by Osama bin Laden and they want to show the world who is boss. Most women I have spoken to feel as powerless and enraged as I do.

It is interesting that women asked Mr Blair the toughest questions on Newsnight last week; that Alice Mahon MP stands up to Mr Blair in Parliament and gets right up his nose and, even more encouraging, that – for the first time – this week women were elected to six out of seven top judicial seats on the new International Criminal Court. If the US, Israel and the UK really wanted to, they would by now have managed to get President Saddam out in a covert operation and maybe even put on trial at this new ICC. But alas, the high-minded US President, with God on his side, despises the very idea of the international court to which Americans might become subject.

At next week's march I hope to join a group: Women Say No To War. We will march together, women from around the world, including Iraqi refugees. For the sake of the men who will die in their thousands, and the excruciating pain of their women and children, I hope that many, many of you out there will join us.

y.alibhai-brown@independent.co.uk


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-56 next last

1 posted on 02/10/2003 1:01:41 PM PST by Pokey78
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Pokey78
Tony Blair and Colin Powell have delivered their ultimatum and the world had better just take it on the chin, like a man.

Yep.

'Nuff said.


2 posted on 02/10/2003 1:04:53 PM PST by Capitalist Eric
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pokey78
Allow me, please, to go all womanly on you: emotional, weepy..

Don't let those pesky FACTS get in the way of your FEELINGS, sister.

3 posted on 02/10/2003 1:05:12 PM PST by Puppage (You may disagree with what I have to say, but I will defend to your death my right to say it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pokey78
Yes, listen to women:

Miss America is a junior at Portland State University, hoping to eventually get a Master's degree in Bioethics. Miss Afghanistan is forbidden from receiving any education at all, and cannot read or write.

Miss America has worked as a lab assistant at both the Oregon Health Sciences University and the University of Puget Sound. Miss Afghanistan is forbidden from working.

Miss America's father is an engineer. Her mother is a teacher. Miss Afghanistan's father was shot by a gang of Taliban militants. Her mother begs for bread scraps since she cannot work or remarry.

Miss America wowed the judges by singing a Puccini aria, "O Mio Babbino Caro". Miss Afghanistan is forbidden from singing or even listening to music of any kind.

Miss America will be traveling the nation nonstop during her reign. Miss Afghanistan cannot leave her house without a male family member, cannot drive, and cannot be out after dark.

Miss America is an advocate for breast cancer research. Miss Afghanistan cannot be treated by a male doctor, and for all practical purposes has no access to medical treatment of any kind.

Miss America can date, marry, or divorce anyone she chooses. Miss Afghanistan will be stoned to death if caught in the company of a male outside of her family. She is likely to be sold into an arranged marriage to a man who already has two wives.

Miss America wears sunscreen on the beach to keep from burning. Miss Afghanistan cannot live in a house with windows unless they are painted black. Since she must wear a burqua outside, her pale translucent skin has not seen a ray of sunlight in years.

Miss America could have been disqualified if her swimsuit did not meet pageant standards. Miss Afghanistan can be flogged if the holes in the mesh covering her face are too large.

Miss America will decide how many children, if any, she wants to have. Miss Afghanistan will be pregnant 3-4 times more often than Miss America.. Unfortunately, her babies are 25 times more likely to die in the first year. One out of four will not see their 5th birthday.

Miss America is majoring in speech communications at PSU. Miss Afghanistan is forbidden from speaking in public.

Miss America is 21. Since the U.S. life expectancy for women is 80, she's still a very young woman. Miss Afghanistan is also 21. But since the life expectancy for an Afghan woman is 43, next year she will be "over-the-hill". (Besides having a shockingly short life expectancy overall, Afghanistan is one of the only countries in the world in which women have a shorter life expectancy than men)

Miss America is a beautiful, intelligent woman and everyone knows it. Miss Afghanistan could be a beautiful, intelligent woman... but nobody will ever know it.

God Bless Miss America God Help Miss Afghanistan
4 posted on 02/10/2003 1:06:22 PM PST by Nataku X (Never give Bush any power you wouldn't want to give to Hillary.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pokey78
Oh, go bake me a pie, woman.
5 posted on 02/10/2003 1:06:38 PM PST by Dog Gone
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Nakatu X
Wonderful post!!!!!!

Hitting print button....
6 posted on 02/10/2003 1:09:06 PM PST by luckodeirish (Conservative men are hotties!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Pokey78

Yasmin Alibhai Brown Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, MBE came to this country in 1972 from Uganda.

7 posted on 02/10/2003 1:09:16 PM PST by NativeNewYorker (Freepin' Jew Boy)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: All
Sounds like more ranting from the Lesbian Left.

Why is it these days when a woman says she is speaking for "women"...she looks more like a man.

You notice that our female conservative pundits tend to include everyone when discussing an issue...whereas the liberal female pundits always refer to just "women"
8 posted on 02/10/2003 1:09:53 PM PST by UCFRoadWarrior (Its not about Iraqi oil...Its about Saddam's gas)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Pokey78
When the American journalist Lesley Stahl asked Ms Albright in 1996 what she felt about the fact that more Iraqi children appeared to have died as a result of sanctions than did in Hiroshima, the cold reply was: "This is a hard choice but the price, I think, is worth it."
 
Yes, another example of the appalling stupidity that was, is and forever will be, Maddy Albright. 
In fact, NO Iraqi children died as a result of the sanctions.  They died because Saddam chose to starve them to death, deny them medical care, and gas them.  Our hands are clean.

Owl_Eagle

”Unleash the Hogs of Peace.”
P.J. O'Rourke Parliament of Whores

9 posted on 02/10/2003 1:10:24 PM PST by End Times Sentinel (If nothing is done, will Saddam go away/will things get better? If the U.S. does not act, who will?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Nakatu X
Dittos on the 'great post', and I wholeheartedly agree with your tag line too.
10 posted on 02/10/2003 1:11:25 PM PST by kaylar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Pokey78
:

Oh, the stench!

750 nude women, with unshaven legs and armpits, form a heart around the words 'No War' on a hillside near the town of Byron Bay, 700 kilometers (435 miles) north of Sydney, Australia, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2003. The women said they wanted to send Prime Minister John Howard a message to recall Australian troops from the middle east.

11 posted on 02/10/2003 1:12:09 PM PST by ppaul
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pokey78
"A UN report confirms..."

She's brain dead.

12 posted on 02/10/2003 1:13:26 PM PST by Shermy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pokey78
Allow me, please, to go all womanly on you: emotional, weepy

For God's sake, woman, so long as your passport says "British", maintain a stiff upper lip.

Ivan

13 posted on 02/10/2003 1:13:39 PM PST by MadIvan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pokey78
Yes, listen to the world's women. At least listen to my girlfriend, who will kindly ask you to bomb Saddam into dust.
14 posted on 02/10/2003 1:13:46 PM PST by Britton J Wingfield
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pokey78
Was she nekkid when she wrote this? That seems to be a requirement these days.
15 posted on 02/10/2003 1:13:54 PM PST by Redcloak (Jøìn thë Çøålìtìon tø Prëvënt the Åbûsë of Ûnnëçëssårìlÿ Lëngthÿ, Vërbøsë ånd Nønsënsìçål Tåg Lìnës)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pokey78
Yes, listen to the world's women. At least listen to my girlfriend, who will kindly ask you to bomb Saddam into dust.
16 posted on 02/10/2003 1:14:09 PM PST by Britton J Wingfield
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Nakatu X
You've said it.

All that's left for me is to say, shut up you idiot Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, if you were in Iraq they'd cut off your fat head for mouthing off!

Anyone else think it's funny that the leftist idiots making the most anti-war noise are the ones that the Islamists most want to kill?

I bet they rewrote the stinking Koran to include a chapter on slaughtering trollops named Madonna!

17 posted on 02/10/2003 1:14:59 PM PST by the gillman@blacklagoon.com (Everybody! Sing with me!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Pokey78
"But, as a woman and a mother, I will not support the assault on Iraq because it has nothing to do with justice and everything to do with the fact that the new, macho imperialists have been outwitted by Osama bin Laden and they want to show the world who is boss. Most women I have spoken to feel as powerless and enraged as I do."

IMPERIALISTS? You ingrate. OUTWITTED by Osama? That game is over. MOST WOMEN? I'm a woman and I do not feel powerless or enraged. I guess with the kind of men you have under Islam, it's no wonder you're a man hater.

18 posted on 02/10/2003 1:16:15 PM PST by arasina (The birds outside the blonde's apartment go "Twit twit!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Comment #19 Removed by Moderator

To: Pokey78
Oh yeah they act all peace lovin and such but I guaran-dam-teeya if a woman was President the whole earth would be scorched and burnt to ashes about once a month.
20 posted on 02/10/2003 1:19:23 PM PST by asneditor (A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-56 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson