‘Was The Machete Supplied By William Hague?’

Woolwich: This Is Just The Beginning If We Don't Pull The Troops Out Of Afghanistan

Harry Paterson writes:

Yesterday's events were horrific, but don't be part of the problem with EDL and the right-wing loons, be part of the solution and convince the Government they have to step in...

Predictably, the troglodyte tendency was quick to bombard Twitter with their irrational, entirely theory-free, propaganda. This particular gem caught my eye, “EDL leader Tommy Robinson on way to Woolwich now, Take to the streets peeps ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.” This would, presumably, be the same Tommy Robinson (or Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, if you prefer his real name) who, earlier this year, pleaded guilty to “possession of a false identity document with improper intention.” Basically, he entered the USA on a mate’s passport. Illegally, then. England’s glorious patriot was, in fact, an illegal immigrant. Brilliant.

However, I digress; this isn’t really about Robinson or his rag-tag assortment of violent offenders, convicted criminals, football hooligans and assorted detritus. What this is about is the, sadly, all-too predictable fall-out following this appalling murder. Of which the ridiculous Robinson’s in-fighting, feuding misfits comprise only a part.

As you might expect, the dullards of the far-right and their hard-of-learning followers were quick to castigate (for EDL readers, that’s a synonym for ‘condemn’) immigrants, foreigners, Muslims and all the usual targets; business as usual, then. Of course, not knowing if the attackers were immigrants or British citizens didn’t stop the wing-nuts from inciting a bout of hysterical bigotry among the good people of Woolwich.

As for the Muslim community, well, the Muslim Council of Britain, “condemned the attacks unreservedly.” I see. Oddly enough, when a Pakistani Muslim pensioner was slaughtered in Birmingham a few weeks back, by a suspected white attacker, you might have missed the General Synod rushing to prostrate themselves and grovel apologetically for something which was neither their fault nor their responsibility (It’s about time, actually, that the spineless Uncle Toms comprising the Muslim Council of Britain told the establishment and the right-wing sewer-press to go fuck themselves, but that’s another story). Even more strangely, there didn’t appear to be an EDL press release condemning Christianity as the source of this murderous evil swamping our land. Odd, that…

Similarly, right-wing neo-Nazi nut-job, Anders Behring Breivik, so blonde and Aryan-looking he must make Tommy hard, hasn’t been held up as a salutary warning regarding the dangers of creeping Christianity. I could go on but you get the point; one, two, three or even a dozen or a hundred religious fanatics are not even remotely representative of the followers of Islam. Just as Anders Behring Breivik isn’t typical of those terminally-irritating, painfully-earnest pests that knock on your door, intent on sharing the joys of Jesus with you. And while I’d be first in the queue to condemn the evils of the Vatican leadership, even I’d baulk at smearing all rank-and-file Catholics as child-raping perverts.

England’s glorious patriots were also surprisingly muted when it came to Daniel Crook. Crook was a Grenadier Guardsman, one of ‘our boys’ (or ‘are boys’ in EDL-speak) who got tanked up on a bottle of vodka before stabbing a 10-year old Muslim boy in the kidney with a bayonet. Because the kid had asked him for chocolate. You read that right. Maybe Robinson’s mob were too busy breaking out the torches and pitch-forks, before marching on the nearest army barracks in protest. Yeah, that must’ve been it…

So let’s sum up with a couple of indisputable truths: firstly, the poor sod butchered like a block of meat on a slab, exited this world in a manner almost beyond comprehension; the murderer’s certainly deserve all that can be legally thrown at them. But (you knew there would be a ‘but’ right?) can anyone point to any ‘terrorist’ atrocity on British streets by Muslim extremists prior to our invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan? Thought not. It’s way overdue people in the UK realised actions have consequences and until we stop assuming we can invade, bomb and pillage other nations with impunity, at the behest of Uncle Sam, we’d best be prepared for two things: more of the same and worse from the impoverished, oppressed and marginalised who are ripe for grooming by the religious extremists. And also the racist, the bigoted and the ignorant, as typified by Robinson’s, thankfully-dwindling, band of cranks to keep on adding to the hate, fear and paranoia.

Hard news to swallow, folks, but the way things stand, currently, there could easily be one, two, many more Woolwichs. Don’t listen to the EDL. Don’t be part of the problem, be part of the solution; let’s get our own house in order. Put the pressure on the government and let’s get the troops out of Afghanistan now.