Moyle. Advocates War over Peace

Canon Fodder

“Moyle District Council this week advocated for War over Peace, Ignorance over Education and the continued promotion of the interests of the bourgeoisie over the proletariat”.

Too much? Let me develop my argument.

On Monday the 13^th of August, The Northern Ireland Veterans Advisory & Pensions Committee made a presentation to the Council. Following the presentation they asked that Moyle appoint an ‘Armed Forces Community Advocate’.

So what does the role of the righteous Advocate entail? Well according to their presentation handout which I quote verbatim;

1.      Ensure that the interests of the Armed Forces & the Veterans in N.I. are properly considered.

2.      Consider the impact on the Armed Forces & Veterans Community in their area of responsibility of their organisations decisions and policies.

3.      Advocate on behalf of the Armed Forces and Veterans Community in their area of responsibility.

4.      Raise the profile of the Armed Forces & Veterans Community in their area of responsibility.

5.      Liaise with N.I. in-service and Ex-service representatives, third sector and public sector to identify issues that need to be addressed and resolved or areas of good practise that could be replicated either locally or nationally.

6.      Be a member of the N.I. Armed Forces & veterans’ community welfare pathway steering group.

It is notable that, even in their own words, the Serving Armed Forces take precedence over the Veterans.  Councillors from the TUV DUP & UUP brought fourth their glowing praise on the move. The Chairman moved to have the proposal adopted. I interjected by raising my hand.

“Chairman! Rather than promote an ‘advocate for war’, could Moyle now show itself to be more enlightened and have an advocate for peace?

“We have to look at what is being asked of this Council. We are being asked to endorse the armed forces of a foreign state that are overseas under false pretences, engaged in illegal wars, empire building and committing the systematic mass murders of over 1.5 million souls in Iraq and countless others in Afghanistan.

“Forgive me if I find it hard to believe that sending you’re poor to murder the poor living in another part of the planet is the pretext for the introduction of Peace, Democracy and Freedom. These words themselves have been hijacked and abused to the point that they can often derive evil connotations in an open mind.

“The Nazis propagated the falsehood of racial superiority and today’s similarly evil falsehood, the promotion of the lie informing that – Mass murder would herald the introduction of Freedom and Democracy in the Middle East.

“Chairman, it is your poor, your downtrodden and uneducated drawn from the underclass of society that are sent to war. Wrap them in a flag and give them a gun. Give meaning to their lives! Suggest they are heroes and deny access to educational material. They may quickly learn that the wars they engage are on behalf of Halliburton, Exxon Mobile, B.P. Shell, Wall Street, the financial district of Canary Wharf, and the Military Industrial Complex. Wars and murder have no relationship to the promotion of Freedom and Democracy whatsoever.

“I propose that this Council ignore the calls to normalise war and instead promote a champion for peace with a focus on education”.

Council deferred the decision for one week.

If this was a simple advocate for Veterans, why not use existing charities? Numerous groups exist.

·         ABE – The soldiers charity

·         The Royal Naval Benevolent Fund

·         British Legion

·         Royal Air Force Families Federation

·         Help for Heroes

·         Combat Stress

·         Service Personal and Veterans Agency plus many others……..

But it was not the reason. At all times the reason is to give credence to the notion that War is ok among the general population. Look again at the roles of the Armed Forces Champion.

·         Ensure the interests of the Armed Forces

·         Consider the impact on the Armed Forces in your organisations decisions and policies

·         Advocate on behalf of the Armed Forces

·         Raise the profile of the Armed Forces

The subject returned to Council on the 20^th of August with a motion;

To propose council appoint an armed forces community advocate to represent The Northern Ireland Veterans Advisory & Pensions Committee to carry out the role as laid out by NIVA & PC at their presentation to council 13 August

(Requested by Councillor S McKillop TUV)

The motion was slightly amended and carried with – an advocate for War on behalf of the people of Moyle being adopted by Council

Council’s landslide endorsement of the TUV motion was interesting given that many who supported Jim Allister’s thoughts on the subject would place themselves in the role of peacemakers.

I have this notion their claims would ring ‘somewhat hollow’ should they ever meet the victims of Imperial forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Ireland, Palestine etc…………………

 

Canon Fodder.