Ann Clwyd & More on Aceh... posted by Richard Seymour

The Vicar of Cynon Valley...

The United Kingdom's "Human Rights envoy" to Iraq has a peculiar conception of human rights. Her latest correspondence is on her concerns about the humanitarian situation in Fallujah. This time she is conversing with Raoul , a colleague at my other, occasional blog Media Lies produces a stupefying series of comedic non-sequiturs and obedient euphemisms. Take the following:

Essential services were disrupted during the course of military action. However, Iraqi and multi-national forces supplied Fallujah's civilian population with water supplies as they moved into the city.

Well, they're dead, the city's destroyed, but at least we brought them water... Note also the evacuation of the necessary verb from the first sentence. No one did anything to the essential services, they just happened to be 'disrupted' (by the weather no doubt). One supposes that the bombing of one hospital and the hi-jacking of another had something to do with this?

Similarly, she goes on to add:

The Iraqi Government and the Multi-National Force had also stockpiled essential supplies in the city before operations began to provide for the immediate needs of Fallujah's civilians.

What civilians, Ann dear? Didn't the marine corps tell you? There were no civilians in Fallujah, which is why the US refused to allow aid in during the main phase of the assault. At least if there were, they would have been shot dead as one AP photographer witnessed:

"I decided to swim ... but I changed my mind after seeing U.S. helicopters firing on and killing people who tried to cross the river.''

He watched horrified as a family of five was shot dead as they tried to cross. Then, he "helped bury a man by the river bank, with my own hands."

Further, the same witness reports:

"Destruction was everywhere. I saw people lying dead in the streets, wounded were bleeding and there was no one to come and help them. Even the civilians who stayed in Fallujah were too afraid to go out," he said.

"There was no medicine, water, no electricity nor food for days."

...

"U.S. soldiers began to open fire on the houses, so I decided that it was very dangerous to stay in my house," he said.

Those 'supplies' can get exhausted after a while, I suppose. Then again, a few cans of Spam can come to seem quite meaningless when your house is being shot at and your neighbours are being buried on the banks of the Euphrates.

Clwyd goes on to talk about the reconstruction projects that are planned, claims that Fallujah's residents and leaders were aching for an assault to happen ( they weren't ) and generally produces more sick humour in one letter than Sam Kinison managed in a whole career (although Kinison, to his credit, never claimed to be a great humanitarian).

Aceh...

You may be encouraged to hear that at least some British media attention is now being given to the behaviour of Indonesia in Aceh (though none to the British role in that, obviously). BBC and Channel Four have both run news items on it and the tone was not quite as equivocal and pandering as it has been. They have taken their time, but we shouldn't be cynical.

At least now we know that it takes a tsunami spreading from central Africa to the southern tip of Thailand to get British television to talk about the repression of the Acehnese. What will it take to get them to talk about the fact that Britain supplies the weapons and even the money to buy those weapons? You'd think they were frightened of offending someone...

There's also a very brief article in Socialist Worker about it. Unfortunately, it seems to have been written by a smug bastard who thinks he knows it all. Aside from that, this week's SW is a good read.