Response from The UK

[Note: This was a response to "London & Madrid: Days of Sorrow & Refection" as published on Buzzle.com.]

Thank you

I was born and raised in London; all of my family still live there, and I just a few miles away. Of course it is difficult not to get caught up in the outrage, the sorrow, and the accompanying rhetoric and tub-thumping. Of course we must not bow to terrorism, and of course we never will.

But we must not forget that these events are the fruit of a poisoned tree which we have allowed to be planted.

Sadly we in the UK, as in the US, have elected a leader for whom the concept of Crusade is as fresh and as meaningful as that of Jihad is for those who have perpetrated these acts.

It is a mentality which is self perpetuating; it justifies any act, any intervention, any interference we may wish to perpetrate in the name of righteousness and in pursuit of our own interests. It denies utterly our long history of colonial abuse, political betrayal and bloody-minded double -dealing. It then demonizes those on whom we inflict our will, and denies any justice there might be in their viewpoint or their actions or re-actions.

My viewpoint is not one of Marxist self-abuse, it is simply that I lack the nationalist penchant for ignoring any truth [that] does not sit well with our benevolent self-image.

You have spoken a truth which is unfashionable, even unpalatable, but which must find a way through the propaganda if we are ever to bring these horrors to an end for all concerned.

This was the first of your articles I have read, but I will be seeking out others, and sending this one to my friends, whether they want it or not.

best regards

Neal Dowsett