Grim Statistics
By Robert Thompson
February 25, 2005 -- History teaches us so many different things, which is one of the reasons why its fascination remains so powerful, but one aspect of it is that if we look backwards we can, in an admittedly very rough manner, compare one century with another.
We do not know how history will look back on the present century, since we are now only in its fifth year, but for someone of my age, it is already most interesting and instructive to look back at the last, in the first half of which I was born and went through my primary and secondary education, reaching the half-time point as a soldier.
The terrible events of our present day force us to look back at the horrors committed in the twentieth century, and we see three figureheads of the mass slaughter of their fellow human beings. The ultimate prize for ruthless mass murder must go to Yosif Vissarionovitch Dzhugashvili (more commonly known by his adopted name of Stalin, i.e. Steel), with Adolf Hitler in second place and very much in the third place the Emperor Hirohito in whose name so many crimes were committed. In other words, we have two ruthless hyper-guilty mass murderers and a group of men who pulled the strings to control the "divine" puppet.
What do we see when we look around us now ?
So far, the murder figures are much lower and indeed not at all on the same scale as their predecessors, but they are climbing steadily, and there seem to be three and a half contenders for the "crown" of violence in our modern world. Even though the numbers are much lower, it must surely be unacceptable that these three and a half men should escape punishment in the sophisticated environment in which we live our supposedly "civilised" lives.
Let us examine each of them one by one, since they are, of course, Mr George W. Bush, Mr Ariel Sharon, Mr Oussama bin Laden and (as only half a man because he does whatever his boss tells him) Anthony (call me "Tony") Blair.
First, and very much in the lead for the moment, is Mr George W. Bush. His paltry score of violent deaths, compared to his twentieth century predecessors, is now running into mere hundreds of thousands, but he is almost certainly in a similar situation to the late Emperor Hirohito. In every civilised judicial system, his being so severely intellectually challenged would give him some form of defence. Furthermore, he appears to share the late Emperor's "divine" status in the eyes of many of his fellow-citizens, and it is obvious that he is most carefully controlled by the brilliant puppeteers who run "his" administration.
Second comes his leading "buddy", Mr Ariel Sharon, but he does not have the excuse in law of Mr Bush, since he shows every sign of being in charge and knowing exactly what he is doing. He is without a doubt criminally responsible for his acts. His score of killings is impressive, and goes well into the tens of thousands of deliberate murders. In addition, he exercises a great deal of control over those who pull the strings controlling Mr. Bush, which gives him a substantial responsibility for the crimes committed in the name of Bush. It is even possible that, taking into account indirect murders, history will consider him responsible for more deaths than the Bush régime.
Third, comes Mr. Bush's essential partner in crime, Mr. Ousssama bin Laden, another man who shows every sign of being criminally responsible in law for his actions, and also another vital guide for those who pull the strings controlling Mr Bush. We have seen that Mr Bush reacts exactly in accordance with Mr bin Laden's instructions, as when he uttered the fateful word "Crusade", in case any Muslim might have failed to understand the aims of the conspirators who planned the atrocities of 11th September 2001, namely to create tensions, fear and hatred between the followers of Islam and the rest of the world.
Very much fourth in this table of iniquity comes the half-man, Mr Anthony (call me "Tony") Blair, who seems to be another pale puppet who carries out every order given to him by the leading puppet. He is perhaps too pathetic to count as a real villain, because, although he has some intelligence, this very word keeps coming back to haunt him. In its other sense of knowledge of what one's enemies or potential enemies may be doing, intelligence was what he appears to have "misread" (whether deliberately or through stupidity) before the illegal invasion of Iraq. Whether or not he has ever acted sufficiently independently to be considered criminally responsible is a question over which historians will probably argue interminably. However, what is certain is that his actions have directly caused an impressive number of violent deaths.
Well - there we have the first four contenders for the title of mass murderer of the new century, but the grim statistics as to individual responsibility are hideously blurred by their acting in close concert with one another. It is noteworthy that each needs the others, and their interdependency is based on the generation among their respective followers of sufficient fear to create the atmosphere of hatred necessary for their mutual survival.
We should perhaps forget about the statistical aspects of their evil actions, and concentrate rather on what can be done to stop all of them before they go any further in their common orgy of joint and several criminality. Let us all seek justice for those who continue to suffer the loss of their loved ones, and try to save as many as we can of those who remain under threat.
*Robert Thompson is a columnist on Axis of Logic. His writings can be found in "Letters from France". He is a French citizen, is a retired Avocat (Trial Lawyer) at the Boulogne-sur-Mer Bar, living with his wife in a small village in Northern France. He was born at Leek (North Staffordshire, England) in 1931, and, after reading Jurisprudence at Oxford University, he became an English Solicitor. He later went to work at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris. There he was Director in charge of the Legal Department and also Secretary General of the Court of Arbitration, the most important international commercial arbitration centre on the world. While there, he became the I.C.C. Director in charge of relations with the Arab states, where he travelled for professional reasons, and he worked towards legal cooperation with the countries then within the Comecon. |
