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Harold Pinter - Art, truth and politics

unheimlich manoeuvre

02:04 / 11.12.05

In his video-taped Nobel acceptance speech, Harold Pinter excoriated a 'brutal, scornful and ruthless' United States.

The Guardian. Thursday December 8, 2005

How many people do you have to kill before you qualify to be described as a mass murderer and a war criminal? One hundred thousand? More than enough, I would have thought. Therefore it is just that Bush and Blair be arraigned before the International Criminal Court of Justice. But Bush has been clever. He has not ratified the International Criminal Court of Justice. Therefore if any American soldier or for that matter politician finds himself in the dock Bush has warned that he will send in the marines. But Tony Blair has ratified the Court and is therefore available for prosecution. We can let the Court have his address if they're interested. It is Number 10, Downing Street, London.

Pinter doesn't pull any punches. I didn't hear anything about this on the BBC?

06:50 / 11.12.05

Good for him.

I heard lots about it on the BBC, certainly on Radio 4. And there was tv coverage too, which is how I know how hellish he looked and sounded with the throat cancer killing him.

Not going gentle into that good night!

13:00 / 11.12.05

Minor points of interest:

A) The U.S. has never been in favor of the ICC as it exists today, including the Clinton administration.
B) The U.S. cancelled its bunker buster program 2 months ago

15:01 / 11.12.05

That's all right then. Bet Pinter feels like a dick now.

17:37 / 11.12.05

Art, half-Truths, and Politics!

17:51 / 11.12.05

your mothers a halftruth.

ONLY NICE THINGS

08:14 / 12.12.05

B) The U.S. cancelled its bunker buster program 2 months ago

I realise, of course, that you may for reasons of national security be unable to share all the details with us, slim, but could you unpack this statement? The Energy and water Appropriations bill signed into law on November 19 contained no provision for funding RNEP development, but this is not quite the same as cancelling a program - it merely means that the avenue of funding has been closed down. However, Rep. David Hobson, chairman of that appropriations committee, has stated more recently than two months ago that he does not believe that Rumsfeld has given up on the project, I believe...

18:53 / 12.12.05

That has to be one of the best speechs I've ever read. He is so right on so many levels.

Political language, as used by politicians, does not venture into any of this territory since the majority of politicians, on the evidence available to us, are interested not in truth but in power and in the maintenance of that power. To maintain that power it is essential that people remain in ignorance, that they live in ignorance of the truth, even the truth of their own lives. What surrounds us therefore is a vast tapestry of lies, upon which we feed.

And do we feed..grab an i-pod and get crazy with it, silently crazy. Don't want to get profiled now.

22:41 / 12.12.05

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9820682/

That story claims they've abandonded the program and switched to conventional weapons. I suppose "cancelled" could be improper usage but maybe its how Congress deals with this sort of thing discreetly.

The Bush administration was gung-ho about the whole deal until they hit a rough patch on Popularity Trail. I don't think they'll be able to gather the political will to sponsor such a program any time soon unless they find some of that missing WMD in a hidden bunker somewhere.

unheimlich manoeuvre

22:58 / 12.12.05

That story claims they've abandonded the program and switched to conventional weapons. I suppose "cancelled" could be improper usage but maybe its how Congress deals with this sort of thing discreetly.

So Slim, apart from quibbling over a few points, you broadly agree with Harold Pinter's Nobel acceptance speech?

from the speech:
The invasion of Iraq was a bandit act, an act of blatant state terrorism, demonstrating absolute contempt for the concept of international law. The invasion was an arbitrary military action inspired by a series of lies upon lies and gross manipulation of the media and therefore of the public; an act intended to consolidate American military and economic control of the Middle East masquerading - as a last resort - all other justifications having failed to justify themselves - as liberation. A formidable assertion of military force responsible for the death and mutilation of thousands and thousands of innocent people.

We have brought torture, cluster bombs, depleted uranium, innumerable acts of random murder, misery, degradation and death to the Iraqi people and call it 'bringing freedom and democracy to the Middle East'.

ONLY NICE THINGS

08:27 / 13.12.05

From Jane's, Nov 17:

The body in charge of US nuclear weapons programmes, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which operates within the US Department of Energy, has stated it wants to complete the RNEP study at Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico, as planned, but with Pentagon funding. It proposes renaming the study.

RNEP stands for "robust nuclear earth penetrator", btw.

20:27 / 13.12.05

So Slim, apart from quibbling over a few points, you broadly agree with Harold Pinter's Nobel acceptance speech?

I don't agree with how he portrays America or all of the statements within his speech but yes, Pinter and I could both agree that there were a hell of a lot of immoral actions regarding the invasion of Iraq.