Re: Death of British WMD expert

[Jurriaan Bendien <bendien@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Probably some of both, I would say - although in order to understand this,
one would need to do an investigation beyond a legal verdict of homicide and
suicide. It's dreadful, regrettable news, but even so, it never ceases to
amaze me how, in bourgeois society, a social and political issue (in this
case a bloody, illegal war against Iraq against a background of genocide in
that country) is always reduced and individualised to a focus on just one
personality, making any serious and comprehensible political discussion
difficult. It's like that Beatles song, where paternalistic petit-bourgeois
incomprehension is voiced in the sentiment "She's leaving home, what did we
do what was wrong, we didn't know it was wrong", that's what comes to mind.

In this case, it's like a postmodernist nightmare. It's one thing to read a
crime novel (see Ernest Mandel, Delightful Murder: A Social History of the
Crime Story, Pluto Press, or Eric Hobsbawm, Bandits, The New Press), it's
another thing when it's reality. Sometimes I think that in the epoch of
television, where we have things like "Reality TV" and war hoaxes, the
distinction between reality and fiction has become blurred to the extent
that reality presented as fiction, and fiction presented as reality, has
become acceptable, provided that, in the judgement of media experts, Johnny
citizen is able to understand the difference. And the question arises, can
Johnny citizen understand the difference ? What truth criteria should be
applied to reveal reality as it really is ? It's not an easy question.

J.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Devine, James" <jdevine@xxxxxxx>
To: <PEN-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2003 4:19 PM
Subject: Re: [PEN-L] Death of British WMD expert


> suicide? or murder?
>
> calling Miss Marple!
> Jim
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chris Burford [mailto:cburford@xxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Sat 7/19/2003 6:38 AM
> To: PEN-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Cc:
> Subject: Re: [PEN-L] Death of British WMD expert
>
>
> BBC 13:11 GMT 14:11 UK
>
>
>
> Police have confirmed a body found in Oxfordshire woodland is Dr David
Kelly, as Tony Blair comes under intense pressure over his death.
> A spokesman said a post-mortem revealed the death was caused by a cut to
the left wrist and a knife was found nearby, along with a packet of pain
killers.
>
>
>