Lower than I thought possible
I'm frankly flabbergasted by this. Regular readers will know of my disdain for Neil Clark, who seeks to silence the free expression of views through legal action and writes with love of the old days of the Warsaw Pact. But for all my disdain - nay, contempt - even I never thought to read such a truly vile piece as this by him (or indeed anyone else), let alone on a maninstream newspaper's site.
Clark expreses the view, with regard to the campaign to allow the Iraqi translators who have helped the British army in their service for the Iraqi government, that:
The interpreters did not work for "us", the British people, but for themselves - they are paid around £16 a day, an excellent wage in Iraq - and for an illegal occupying force. Let's not cast them as heroes. The true heroes in Iraq are those who have resisted the invasion of their country.
...Before you rush to condemn Iraqis who feel ill disposed towards the interpreters, ask yourself a simple question: how would you view fellow Britons who worked for the forces of a foreign occupier, if Britain were ever invaded? History tells us that down through history, Quislings have - surprise, surprise - not been well received, and the Iraqi people's animosity towards those who collaborated with US and British forces is only to be expected.
...let's do all we can to keep self-centred mercenaries who betrayed their fellow countrymen and women for financial gain out of Britain.
If that means some of them may lose their lives, then the responsibility lies with those who planned and supported this wicked, deceitful and catastrophic war, and not those of us who tried all we could to stop it.
Words fail me.
I actually take heart from this, or rather from the reaction to it.. I have been the first to pillory the commenters on Comment is Free. But if you have a look at the comments on Clark's piece, you'll see that they are overwhelmingly appalled by what he has written - and that from their anti-war perspective. Clark has shown himself to be beyond the pale even of Comment is Free commenters.
(Here's what the campaign's progenitor, Dan Hardie (who was, not that it should matter a jot, antiwar) has to say.)
UPDATE: James has the same reaction (unsurprisingly, given that he is not Neil Clark.)
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James Forsyth
August 10th, 2007 5:23pmIntrestingly, comments have now been turned off.
Ross
August 10th, 2007 6:30pmNeil Clark's obnoxiousness exceeds even his stupidity.
OMMAG
August 10th, 2007 7:35pm"...if Britain were ever invaded? ..." As a Canadian I'd say that Neil Clark should remember that Britain along with the rest of Europe have been incapable of defending themselves for the last 100 years or so. It was Canadians and Americans who kept your pasty white asses from being penetrated by German and Soviet boots for the last century and remember that this kind of help wont be coming again. So just as the smug Clark refuses to offer help to people who need it he should consider that what goes around has a tendency to come around. Think about that while you stand up for Islamic hate mongers and revile those who actually do something bring justice to despots and security to those who'd like to live in the civilized world!
Exile
August 11th, 2007 9:10amWords fail you eh? So they should since your little cakewalk went a bit wonky. So now the aim is to save face, prove how decent you are and get these harkis out, is that it? How, pray, is this to be done? By pulling the harkis out and leaving the British army to continue taking casualties? I think that this one needs a bit more thought, pal, I really do.
Ross
August 11th, 2007 3:17pmNice to see that 'Exile' aka Ken Bell, is continuing his spamming campaign in order to create the impression that the kind of moral leprosy exhibited by him and Neil Clark is a movement.
Chris Goodman
August 11th, 2007 6:43pmOMMAG, Where did you get the impression that if Communists had invaded the UK Neil Clarke would be fighting them on the beaches? Jumping up and down with joy is a more likely scenario if his support for Slobodan Milosovitz is anything to go by – Canada is indeed a lucky country if the politics of Leftists such as Neil Clarke is unfamiliar to you. Yes, many Canadians of your grandparents and great grandparents generation (some giving their lives) did indeed support the UK when it was threatened by Germany, a sacrifice which has not been forgotten; but I am not sure who appointed you as their spokesman? Just a guess, but I suspect that it was not as a result of any effort on your part that Germany was defeated.
Joshua
August 12th, 2007 2:22pmThe best that can be said about Clark is that it's possible he means well. Then again, the same could also have been said about Horthy, Hitler, Goebbels and Milošević.
Upsy Daisy
August 12th, 2007 5:05pmSince it's been established beyond a shadow of a doubt (matching IP addresses) that either Clark or his wife posted Clark-supporting comments on Stephen's old blog under the alias 'GreenGoddess', what's the betting that most of Clark's "supporters" are sockpuppets too?
Ken Bell seems to be genuine, but he also comes across as completely insane, so I'm not sure his support would necessarily be welcomed.
Exile
August 12th, 2007 9:30pmYeah, yeah, yeah... So, is the plan to withdraw the 20,000 harkis to their nice new home in Britain and leave the British army fighting in their old home, which is Iraq? It is such a simple question. Why will nobody answer it?
Andrew Paterson
August 12th, 2007 10:58pmClark's logic is interesting when it comes to the 'ilegality' of the invasion and occupation. Surely if the war was illegal in that there wasn't a specific UNSCR authorising it, then the UNSCR to authorise the occupation makes that legal. As always when it comes to the 'ilegal war' crowd, international law is whatever they want it to be.
Lee Jakeman
August 14th, 2007 11:18pmOMMAG: During World War II, the USA had a total of 12 million men and women in uniform. Britain had 8 million and Canada had just over a million. When you take population into account, this meant that the British and Germans were the most mobilised nations, with the highest proportion of men and women directly partcipating in the war effort, pasty white asses notwithstanding.
Scipio
August 15th, 2007 3:46pmActually the United States had 16 million men (including my father) and women in uniform and fought a two Ocean war.