comment, opinion

AS we look at the conflicts in “the Holy Land” — nowadays Lebanon, Palestine and Syria — it seems that not a lot has changed in 2000 years, other than the technology. Most people are still motivated by greed, self-interest and primitive tribalism, and live in societies where these qualities are nurtured by governments whose leaders share the same aspirations. Jesus’ radical “socialist” message was mocked and nearly lost, but for a few enlightened individuals who lit the flame of Christianity that still burns today. That such a radical message survived largely intact through generations of storytellers is witness to its truth and power, as it was a message that the powerful and corrupt did not want the weak and poor to hear. So it is bemusing to see this situation so closely repeated in 2013, when “the truth has become so precious that she must be protected by a bodyguard of lies”— as Churchill observed. So what are they hiding from us now? Veteran US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who revealed the truth of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam and Abu Ghraib in Iraq, has now exposed some White (House) lies on Syria. His authoritative sources in US intelligence circles have stated that Obama “cherry-picked” the intelligence to make the case for an strike on Syria, claiming that President Assad launched a chemical weapons attack in August. Apparently US intelligence knew some of the “rebels” in Syria were able to manufacture Sarin, and were worried about them using it; when the attack happened they never thought the Syrian government was responsible, and refused to support the White House claims. Echoing the abusive criticism of Mother Agnes Mariam, a Catholic nun working hard for peace and reconciliation in Syria, but who questioned the authenticity of videos showing the alleged victims of the Sarin attack, Hersh now finds no Western mainstream media willing to run his “story”. Rather as happened 2000 years ago, both these eminent and honest campaigners have been shunned, slandered and ridiculed. — DAVID MACILWAIN, Sandy Creek