Being There

Judge, Anthony

Alternative view of segmented documents via Kairos

2nd February 2003

Being There

***

-- / --

Remembrance

I was there...

When leaders of democracy and freedom were extremely economical with the truth
When devout Christians sought God's aid to slaughter Muslims they had never met
When special military forces of the North engaged opponents with overwhelming force
When airforce pilots dropped WMD and were rewarded with a medal of honour
When claims for evidence were made in defiance of centuries of scientific and legal procedure
When thousands were made homeless because the price was worth paying
When bomblets were dropped disguised as emergency rations
When respectable colleagues in every discipline refrained from public comment
When trained interrogators of democracies engaged in unchecked torture
When the United Nations was cynically perverted and corrupted to dubious ends
When government policy became too important for public consultation
When associations supporting guns-for-citizens had the president's ear
When other countries were encouraged to disarm by every means
When official institutions became inherently untrustworthy
When governments promoted panic in order to ensure support
When democratic governments formally dispatched death squads to other countries
When blatant government greed for oil was cynically cloaked in the highest values
Wen hard work of decades on many fronts was shredded without challenge
When dissent from government policies was sanctioned as treason
When heroes were those who beat up any they chose to suspect
When all chose to forget dangerous historical parallels
When project funding suddenly became subject to political allegiance
When hit squads were dispatched to eliminate any form of opposition
When God's name was invoked as justification for every form of abuse
When considered intelligence service opinions were replaced by wishful thinking
When planting and fabricating evidence was ignored as a possibility
When allies formerly supplied with weaponry were transformed into enemies
When abuses of long-standing allies were systematically tolerated and compensated
When the trappings of democracy became a fraud for all to see
When corporations claming respectability were revealed as dangerously flawed
When only those with little to lose were willing to speak for those about to die
When religions failed to protest against acting violently in their name
When unimaginative good guys fed on movies were trapped in bad scenarios explored therein
When dialogue with opponents was excluded in favour of slaughter
When once again arms traders claimed innocence in supplying both sides
When nations were stampeded into war to guarantee re-elections and campaign debts
When those most complicit in perversity acclaimed the possibility of business as usual
When leading insiders once again ensured their financial advantage from war
When cynicism prevailed concerning humanitarian response to the aftermath
When perversion of good people and principles became the normal response to the unsavoury
When the wise in transcending polarization sought refugee in irresponsible silence
When dutiful soldiers were brainwashed into dishonourable combat
When media reports on every side became high exercises in spin
When the twisted initiatives of the "good" guys became more venal than those of the "bad"
When provoking undiscerning panic over terror became a weapon of mass distraction
When concerns of the world's peoples were set aside by flailing governments
When institutional leaders chose to live their lives in fear

...but I cannot remember what I did !

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