"moral issue is a distraction" - Monbiot

[Chris Burford <cburford@xxxxxxxxxx>]

George Monbiot, Tues Nov 25 in a thoughtful and cogent criticism of David
Aaronovitch's position

>>>
in debating the war, those of us who opposed it find ourselves drawn into
this fairytale. We are obliged to argue about the relative moral merits of
leaving Saddam in place or deposing him, while we know, though we are seldom
brave enough to say it, that the moral issue is a distraction. The genius of
the hawks has been to oblige us to accept a fiction as the reference point
for debate. <<<

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1092487,00.html



My only reservation is that after all the realpolitik, Bush (and Blair)
still have to appeal to some sort of higher ideology because they are trying
not just to maintain dominance in a traditional balance of power: the logic
is for integrated global empire. And state bodies, whether national or
global need both bodies of armed men able to act at the direction of the
ruling classes, but also an ideology to appear to stand above classes, and
minimise the cost of unnecessary frequent use of overt force.

Chris Burford

London