Philip Challinor: Devilish Logic

Tony Blair, the Vicar of Downing Street, whom God appears to have blessed with telepathy, has informed his faithful that the London bombings were not motivated by opposition to the invasion of Iraq. That settles that, then.

Their cause is:

"..not founded on an injustice. It is founded on a belief, one whose fanaticism is such that it can't be moderated."

No doubt this is true of the bombers themselves and of the mediaeval lunatics who control them; fortunately, there is nothing in our own behaviour to drive anyone into the arms of such creatures. This happy fact may be readily deduced from the Prime Minister's absolute inability to conceive of such a possibility.

"What was September the eleventh, 2001 a reprisal for?"

If there had been any investigation worth the name, we might have some idea. As it is, we are necessarily forced back on theories, prominent among which are western support of various brutal and corrupt governments in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Indonesia and Israel. What was the invasion of Iraq a reprisal for?

The Prime Minister also indulges in some rhetorical flourishes about the crusades for democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the Palestinians' apparent eagerness to build walls.

"If it is Afghanistan that motivates them, why blow up innocent Afghans on their way to their first-ever election?"

Apparently it's all right to blow up innocent Afghans provided you're looking for a cave-dwelling religious maniac who may or may not have inflicted a non-reprisal and who may or may not be anywhere near Afghanistan.

"Why, even after the first Madrid bomb and the election of a new Spanish government, were they planning another atrocity when caught?"

Why, even after the remarkable case of the weapons of mass non-existence and the collapse of any pretence at democracy, is Britain still colluding with the Bush government in its illegal occupation of Iraq? If Their logic is devilish and Ours is angelic, why do the syllogisms look so similar?

"Why, if it is the cause of Muslims that concerns them, do they kill so many with such callous indifference?"

Presumably because few religious fanatics have many qualms about sending people to their just reward. Whatever damage they inflict, they can always be sure that their sky-daddy will provide appropriate compensation - hellfire for the guilty, bliss for the collateral damage. The single "cause" which apparently unites something over a thousand million Muslims, including the bombers, is regrettably left unspecified.

The bombers, it appears, were driven by "evil ideology", which does not involve opposition to anything.

Perhaps they bombed us because they disagreed with free-market fundamentalism? Anyway, they use "almost devilish logic" to play on our "tendency to guilt", which is obviously a very evil thing to do indeed; and they would never, never change their behaviour if we changed ours. Presumably, being evil, they also will not change their behaviour if we fail to change ours.

Obviously, this will result in considerable progress.

ENDS

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