Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister for 10 years (+) once described the continent of Africa as “a scar on the conscience of the world” and he appears to have gotten away with that unguarded and ill-conceived statement because since the death of Kwame Nkrumah, Africa has had the misfortune of having dolomites who apart from lining up their pockets with money, care less about the place of Africa in the modern world as its leaders, hence whatever is said about that continent by anyone and by, especially the western media often goes unchallenged.
But after 10 years stint at Number 10 and subsequent events in his life, Mr Blair has shown that he and not Africa, is the real scar on the conscience of mankind, furthermore, Mr Blair and his fellow life’s traveller, Mr George Bush are the real scars on the conscience of the world. Thus we at Vigilance are not amused in any least way by Mr Blair’s recent guilt induced benevolence when he promised to donate the blood money of £4.6 million which is an advance for his equally blood memoirs to charity. Generous Blair also promised to donate any profits from the book to the Royal British Legion. In this guilt induced gesture which to us is not from the heart, but an attempt by this Catholic to bribe God at a Saturday Confession before the priest called the “Media”.
Mr Blair reminds us of the Biblical lithe frame Zacchaeus. But while after becoming repentant Zacchaeus gave half of his ill-gotten wealth to the poor and promised that if he had ever cheated anybody out of anything he would give back four times that amount, Mr Blair is going to give a chicken feed of £4.6 million out of his reported total worth of £60 million, deluding himself that on the final day, he would receive a “Well done, good and faithful servant” commendation from his Lord and Maker. But rather than resort to bribing God, what Mr Blair really needs is total and genuine restitution.
We hear the money will help pay for the £12 million Battle Back Challenge Centre (B2C2) for wounded ex-service persons scheduled to open next summer and will provide accommodation and training for the wounded veterans. All we can say is, this Catholic penitent is using this publicity stunt to battle back his very troubled conscience. Does Mr Blair know how many lives, both soldiers and civilians that have been lost in the wars of blame to which he had dragged Britain? Does Mr Blair know the number of the wounded? How does this Catholic hope to compensate the bereaved families whose loved ones and bread winners have lost their lives, the families of the wounded whose loved ones are now in crutches? Pray, what is the cost of a life? By this attempt to bribe God, does this Catholic no longer think that the wars were just?
Having started the fires in both Iraq and Afghanistan, he refused to commit resources to finance the wars, especially in equipment procurement, the shortage of which led to the casualties of immense proportions. Since the wars of blame started, more than 500 British soldiers have been killed, the figures of the wounded and those currently suffering one psychological trauma or another are equally mind-boggling. And not forgetting the unreported deaths of all persons involved in these wars on all sides. So What Mr Blair wants us to record for posterity is that all the casualties of the wars including the dead are worth a paltry sum of £4.6 million!
The lesson from Mr Blair’s troubled conscience is that all persons who have found their way to positions of leadership all over the world, who when they held sway in government tended to think they were demi-gods, are just men and women amongst us, who are human beings after all.
While Mr Blair was in office, he shuttled between Number 10 and the White House, beating his chest, together with another blood hound and oil-thirsty boy called George W. Bush Jnr that their action was right and that it was meant not just to rid Britain and the US of terrorism, but by extension the entire world. But we would like to ask Mr Blair and Mr Bush if Britain and America are any better today, terror-wise? Similarly, is the world any better? In their braggadocio they carried on as men on a mission, better still as the saviours of the world.
But this benevolence has also succeeded in exposing the pain in a region of Mr Blair’s soul, even though he has continued to put up frontal attacks to conceal this pain, while before the media and the public inquiries. However, we take solace on behalf of the dead and the wounded in the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars in the Biblical truth that cautions all humanity, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7).
But will the world learn from this, that all our actions and inactions here on earth, come with consequences at the end of the day? Even when at the time of such actions and inactions we tend to behave and act like conquistadors, alpha and omega, the all-seeing One, God Himself does bring us to account at the end of the day and in our moments of sober reflections in the deep recesses of our true beings, the real wars do rage on within us to sober and bring us to repentance.
Also Mr Blair’s and George Bush’s wars of blame have no doubt provided a universal prism by which a searchlight can be beamed on the much-trumpeted impartiality of the International Court of Justice at The Hague. We at Vigilance shudder to think that while George Bush Jnr and Tony Blair who have committed war crimes are walking free, with Mr Blair particularly, globe-trotting to deliver after dinner speeches, offering consultancy services to Governments and high profile organisations/institutions and receiving mouth-watery remunerations (more blood money) for such speeches and consultancy services, Mr Charles Taylor is being tried for similar offences.
For the time being, whether or not, Mr Blair and George Bush will ever be tried by the International Court, “....let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream”(Amos 5: 24).
Image source: http:www.hem-of-garment-bible-study.org/imag
