Tunisia - Is This a Portent?

The BBC website is quite clear on the subject: "In a string of Arab countries, succession issues loom as ageing autocrats confront the unmet aspirations of their youthful and rapidly growing populations." The article goes on to say that there is a risk of unrest spreading to neighbouring Algeria. It also makes the point that repressive regimes, thanks to the internet, texting, etc, can no longer control news reaching their populations, and are thus unable to pretend that the characteristic features of repressive regimes (corruption, human rights abuse, etc) do not exist. Another point made by another commentator is that many young Tunisians are highly educated, and are no longer prepared to tolerate a state that denies them freedom of expression and (perhaps more significantly) has failed to provide them with productive employment.
Educated elites who feel aggrieved at the political system under which they live are a dangerous force. Such elites were the prime movers behind both the French and Russian Revolutions. The French revolutionary, Danton, said:
"The revolution came: I and all those like me threw ourselves into it. The old regime drove us to it by giving us a good education without opening any opportunity for our talents"

Perhaps we in the UK should take note. We now have an angry student population who feel that they face an uncertain financial future; we have thousands of intelligent young people who will be unable to enter Higher Education because they cannot afford it. The resentment and frustration felt by both groups could lead to problems in times to come. The popular unrest inTunisia, as I suggested above, could be a portent for the future.

Sexploitation - Not Just A Pakistani Issue

As we know, ex- Home Secretary Jack Straw has been accused of "stereotyping" after suggesting some men of Pakistani origin see white girls as "easy meat", and groom them for sexual exploitation. This is understandable as far as it goes, because, as has also been pointed out, most sex offenders are white, and black girls are also targets for predatory gangs such as the squalid crew from Derby, whose crimes can be read about HERE, and whose leaders,Abid Mohammed Saddique, 27, and Mohammed Romaan Liaqat, 28, both married men, are pictured above. However, I think that Straw's remarks can be applied to all communities in the UK. The exploitation of vulnerable young girls is clearly a serious issue that is going largely unreported. All communities need to deal with this issue, and  Mr Straw's comments - whatever we may think of them - will hopefully focus our attention upon it. As long as young girls take to the streets, predatory gangs of all cultures and colours will be looking for them.

The Blogmeister's New Year Message

When they do this sort of thing on the TV and radio, they go through all the newsworthy events of the year. David Cameron's way of doing it has been to tell us what a miserable time we're going to have in the coming year. It might be expected that I would join in the chorus of doom and gloom - especially when you look back over my list of postings for the year. But no - I'd like to end the year on a positive note. One bright spot on the murky international political scene this year has been the release of the Burmese opposition leader and human rights activist, Aung San Suu Kyi. As we know, this lady has been held under house arrest by the repressive regime in Burma for 15 years. What struck me was her dignity and composure at her moment of release and her willingness to forgive her oppressors. Her release was made possible only after sustained international pressure, much of it from leading politicians, but much from ordinary people. All of which tells us that, when enough people unite and work patiently together, change for the better IS possible.
I would like to wish everyone who reads this posting a Happy and Hopeful New Year.

The Blogmeister's Christmas Message

Well, if the Queen can do one of these things, so can I. I am amazed at the fact that we have made it this far. I must pay tribute to Neville, who encouraged me to start this blog, and has been very supportive ever since.Thanks also to Chas, who has brought a different perspective on political matters. Hopefully, he will write more on musical matters in 2011 - I have only recently learned that he is an expert on Northern Soul. Thanks to Mick, who has lent his presence to the blog. For me, it has been a great experience to write on political matters. It has been good discipline to research  topics and justify my opinions, rather than simply spouting them, pub style. This blog now draws regular hits from all over the world; nearly 1 in 5 of all hits come from countries other than the UK. All I want for Christmas for the blog is for some of these visitors to start posting!
As for the issues we've covered, I think we have focussed upon some important matters and made some pertinent comments. It's been a turbulent year, what with recession, the return of a Con-Dem government and the return of student protest to our streets. I wouldn't be surprised if the coming year is every bit as hectic, so look forward to more acerbic postings by me on the political situation.
To sum up, I'd like to say that if I could give out Christmas presents to all readers, I'd give each and everyone a massive slice of good luck - something tells me that we're going to need it.
MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY!

Can Education Stop Homophobia?

From the BBC website comes this introduction to a subject that is not very "Christmassy" (whatever that means):

"A young woman and man have been found guilty of beating a gay man to death in London's Trafalgar Square - a brutal reminder that despite steps towards equality, homophobic violence remains a very real threat.

The killing of a 62-year-old civil servant has cast another shadow over the gay community as it is again forced to confront the consequences of prejudice."
Anyone wishing to read the full report can find it HERE. When this disgusting incident first happened in September last year, however, the prominent gay ex-senior policeman Brian Paddick made what I found to be an extraordinary statement. He said (rightly, as it happens) that many schoolchildren used the term "gay" as a synonym for "bad" He then went on to say that teachers bore a grave responsiblity for this, and should be stopping children from doing it. Like many commentators on education, he did not say how it should be done.
Sickening as all homophobic attacks might be, I find Mr Paddick's comments naive and unrealistic. The perpetrators of the above attack would not have held back from what they did because their teachers had spoken out against homophobia several years before. For a (thankfully small) number of pupils, an anti-homophobic stance in schools would be an incentive to engage in anti-gay violence.
Homophobia is a despicable and evil hate crime that must be eradicated, but while we condemn queer bashing, let's not engage in teacher bashing.

I'm No Conspiracy Theorist, But...

I try to keep an open mind, but I find most conspiracy theories ridiculous. There is a new one out about John Lennon's death, and we are all familiar with the UFO and "no real moon landing" garbage that has such wide currency among many people. Still, this week's events at the student tuition fees protest in London has given me cause for thought. As someone who attended lively anti-National Front demos in the 1970s, I'm not the right person to condemn the violence of some of the protesters, although I strongly disapprove of what happened. As has been pointed out, these events can only lead to the alienation of the public from the student's cause. The rich brat who desecrated the Cenotaph, the Anarchists and the thugs (there is a difference) who came "tooled up" for battle have harmed the student campaign greatly. But there's something I find a little puzzling:
1. Why were the police not better prepared? As anyone who knows anything about the history of Anarchist groups will tell you, they are wide open for infiltration by police spies and informers. I would have expected the police to be well briefed about the violent intentions of such groups.
2. Why did Charles and Camilla blunder so crassly into the demo? Why was a car window left open? This is hardly professional work by the Royal security staff. It was either gross incompetence - or was it something else?
It needs to be said here that some elements in the police are capable of ruthless conduct. A friend of mine, a respectable retired gentleman in his sixties, has told me that, on a previous demo two weeks ago, he came out of a Tube station to be pushed by a police squad who knocked his glasses off. A number of demonstrators were injured on the latest demo - one with a brain injury. Clearly, the security forces and the government might benefit from the publicity given to student violence, as it would justify a much more severe crackdown. In fact, press reports already indicate that this is going to happen.
This would lead a (Leftie) conspiracy theorist to think, perhaps, that the authorities DELIBERATELY made the elementary security mistakes that I list above, in order to allow violence to erupt and thus blacken the student campaign. I doubt that very much, personally, but, like I said, "I'm no conspiracy theorist, but..."

Santa Claus - His Health and Safety

Changing the subject slightly, I'd like to talk about Father Christmas - or Santa Claus if you prefer. I knew he was busy at Christmas, but I never appreciated his workload.  US scientists have calculated that Santa has to visit 822 homes a second to deliver all the world's presents on Christmas Eve, travelling at 650 miles a second. This is surely a breach of Health and Safety Regulations. Santa should be informed by the Factory Inspectorate of his right to have a 10 minute break every four working hours. Not only this, but he is required to trespass on private property to deliver presents. As this could lead to prosecution for Breaking and Entering. Santa should consult with his trade union, raising the question of his being placed in a position of jeopardy. Still, Santa should find it easier to do his job this year; the economic situation will lead to less presents available for delivery. It's an ill wind...

Iraq and Afghanistan - Why Did We Bother?

Our dear friend Ahmad Jad can't help cracking jokes. He says that the current leak of classified US documents to Wkileaks is "American psychological warfare" ( he must get a new gag writer, but he ignores my advice).
He's joking , of course. These leaks are a huge embarrasment to the US government and its allies. The US Government will have to make huge efforts to limit the damage. There is much to concern us, such as the indication that the Saudi rulers wanted the USA to attack Iran. There will be cause for amusement, such as Prince Andrew's reported gaffes.
 For me though, I'm very interested in the criticism of our armed forces in Afghanistan. As the BBC put it, there was:
"Criticism of UK operations in Afghanistan by US commanders, Afghan president Hamid Karzai and officials in Helmand, particularly around the failure to impose security around Sangin".
It should be remembered here that US commentators, military and civil, were equally critical of UK forces in Iraq and their handling of the situation in Basra.
So, hundreds of UK service personnel have died, several thousand wounded and many more will carry battle trauma ("wounds inside the head") for years to come. All for a disparaging verdict on their efforts by our principal ally. Am I alone in wondering - why did we bother?
This is not to imply any criticism of the American people, who are as sick of this useless war as we are.

Exit Strategies Compared - NATO and Taliban

Guardsman Christopher Davies, a 22 year old father of one, who was alive this time last week, has achieved an unenviable distinction. Last Wednesday, he became the 100th British soldier to die in Afghanistan this year and the latest of 645 NATO troops to suffer death in battle in 2010. His family and his comrades speak highly of him. He leaves a young daughter, Lucy. His 21 year old brother, John, is serving in the same regiment - the Irish Guards.Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, has said that Guardsman Davies' sacrifice will not be forgotten. Well, there's a comfort.
   This tragic event comes at a time when NATO is debating when (and how) to quit Afghanistan. No-one is making the mistake that George Bush made in Iraq - boasting "Mission accomplished!". Everyone knows that it isn't. From what I have read, it seems that the Taliban controls about half of the country. While NATO troops are tied down in the South, the Taliban are active in the North of Afghanistan. Unlike the NATO commanders, they have not forgotten the teachings of Sun Tzu and Mao-Tse Tung.
Another forgotten fact is that, after 9/11, we would not have invaded Afghanistan had the Taliban handed over Osama Bin Laden. So much for our honourable crusade. If they had delivered Bin Laden, "The Talibs" would have been left alone to rule Afghanistan in their own inimitable fashion. Anyway, NATO leaders are thrashing out an exit strategy. The Taliban, of course, have their own exit strategy - death or victory. It remains to be seen which of the two exit strategies is the more successful.

Students Lead the Fight-Back?

I'd given up on the students of today. I'd come to think of them as conservative, politically apathetic and mindful only of their future job prospects. I compared them unfavourably to the students of the 60s and 70s, who had campaigned and marched in tens of thousands against the Viet-Nam War, Apartheid and the National Front. Today's students were, I concluded, just plain boring. Last Wednesday's events have caused me to reconsider this unkind verdict. As John Harris comments in today's Guardian :
"What happened on Wednesday afternoon was not some meaningless rent-a-mob flare-up, nor an easily-ignored howl of indignation from some of society's more privileged citizens. It was an early sign of people growing anxious and restless, and what a government pledged to such drastic plans should increasingly expect."
The mass media, of course (and for other reasons, myself) concentrated upon the actions of a violent minority. More relevant, I think, is the fact that tens of thousands of young people have woken up to the fact that public spending cuts are going to seriously endanger their futures. Many other sectors of society are also becoming aware of the devastating consequences of these cost-cutting measures and are beginning to take action. Our Welfare State itself is threatened - and if the government have their way, will be permanently dismantled. Harris quotes David Cameron in a speech made on August 2nd, in Birmingham:
"Should we cut things now and go back later and try and restore them later? I think we should be trying to avoid that approach"
In other words - what gets cut, will never be replaced. Harris goes on to comment that banker's bonuses have been replaced. On November 9th, Barclays announced that £1.6 billion was in their bonus pot.
If, as I hope, students, pensioners, trade unionists, community groups and others likely to be affected by the cuts unite to resist them, then the government can expect many more demonstrations like that seen in London last Wednesday.

Propaganda by Deed and Today's Students' Protest

The TV news broadcasts, and the rest of the media, are buzzing with the way today's student protest against tuition fees turned violent. The Metropolitan Police are very embarrassed about the fact that their preparations were inadequate, and the Millbank Building will need considerable redecoration. Much as I deplore the violence, I regard the events at Millbank as an example of what I referred to in my previous post - Propaganda by Deed (PBD). The style of the attack today is very similar to that seen during the "Stop the City" demos. This takes the form of attacking symbols and properties, rather than people - despite serious scuffling, the demonstators concentrated their destructive efforts on the Millbank Building itself, rather than the small number of beleagured police trying to defend it. This, together with the fact that the protesters who made it to the rooftop waved Anarchist flags (strictly speaking, Anarcho-Syndicalist flags, the Anarchist flag is black) leads me to think that the violent minority (or the revolutionary vanguard, depending upon your point of view) were Anarchists, engaged in PBD. I have no doubt that, when arrested demonstrators appear in court, we will find that many are members of Class War and similar organisations.
As a one-time student radical (well, I thought I was) who went to University when grants were available, I do sympathise with how students feel about the rise in tuition fees. I anticipate that less and less working class students will go to University, and this country will be the poorer for it - as we were before the advent of the now-disappearing Welfare State.
However, I think that today's PBD will be counter-productive, as it will only alienate public support from the student cause. It's one thing to protest against the actions of the state with PBD, but the state, the media and public opinion will only retaliate with far more effective propaganda AND deeds.

Al Qaeda and the Anarchists - Propaganda by Deed?

Ever since 9/11, I have taken an active interest in Jihadism generally, and the tactics of Al-Qaeda in particular.  I knew that Al Qaeda's tactics would have to evolve following the attacks in the USA, and thought I could predict how they would develop new methods of seeking to inflict terror on their chosen targets. Although they moved with what I thought of as bewildering slowness, all my fears have been realised - and there's more to come.
After 9/11, the resultant security crackdown at airports, plus the increased Intelligence effort against them, made it difficult to repeat the outrage (although they didn't stop trying). Obviously, then, the terrorists eventually (as I expected) decided to mount indiscriminate bomb attacks. This led to the atrocities of 7/7 and the Madrid train bombing.
The authorities everywhere reacted by making it more difficult to obtain bomb-making materials. I thought that, unless Al-Qaeda and friends were stupid, they would switch to using firearms, which are cheaper (the 7/7 bombers spent £3000 making their murderous bombs), smaller and easier to conceal. They were not stupid, and the Mumbai Massacre happened.
To bring matters up to date, I believe that we have recently seen a new development in Jihadist tactics. The case of Roshonara Choudhry, the 21 year old woman jailed for stabbing Stephen Tibbs MP, indicates (to me, at least) that Al-Qaeda are moving towards the tactic supposedly developed by 19th century Anarchists - "Propaganda by Deed". I say "supposedly", because anarchists totally condemn both the tactics and beliefs of Al-Qaeda - See Here. I have no doubt that Jihadists loathe Anarchism just as much, but "Propaganda by Deed"(PBD) will hold certain attractions for Al-Qaeda.
Briefly, PBD means that individuals who support a radical cause should take violent actions against real (or imaginary) enemies when they are so minded, and have the opportunity. In the 19th century, some anarchists did carry out such attacks, often "inspired" by police provocateurs. One such example was the Walsall Bomb Plot of 1892. Even at the time, most anarchists condemned such outrages, and even the perpetrators tried not to harm the innocent.
Al-Qaeda will observe no such niceties. Already, an Islamist website has published details of MPs' surgery times - and where to buy knives to carry out attacks. I hope I am wrong, but I anticipate that Al-Qaeda will move towards more such small scale attacks, less "spectacular", but every bit as lethal. I also think that their range of targets will grow wider in time. Like I said, let's hope I'm wrong.