GUEST BLOG: Lois Griffiths – AND YET, NOT THE WORST THING HE’S SAID!
Sure Trump’s foul remarks re Haiti, El Salvador and African countries in general are raising ire around the world. I like the remarks coming from Norway about a ‘shithole’ of a country that does not have a decent publicly funded free health system .
If only we had both school programs and adult education programs that studied the effects of European colonialism around the world. Haiti is a country in particular that I looked into some time ago , after the 2004 US orchestrated coup that led to the overthrow of the democatically elected President , the priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
It’s futile to try to label one country’s suffering as the worst of all. Yet the way the Congolese people were treated when Congo was a Belgium possession , should make anyone cringe whenever remarks are made about the superiority of Western civilization.
Anyway, Trump’s racist remarks are leading to angry reactions. Yet they are not the worst thing he has said in his short time so far of being US President.
Did anyone hear the news item on Sunday morning 14 January, about a missile launched, assumed from North Korea and heading for Hawaii? And then it was explained that the report was wrong, just a ‘mistake’, no such missile was launched.
A mistake! My God, that’s how wars are started ‘. A war between nuclear powers could be very short but have utterly devastating ireversible consequences.
In September 1983, the duty officer in charge of an early warning radar system near Moscow, Stanislav Petrov, received computer readouts that several US missiles were heading towards the USSR. If Petrov had obeyed orders, he would have alerted his superiors who would then have launched a retaliatory nuclear attack. But suspecting computer error, Petrov did not alert his superiors.
In 1983, Stanislov Petrov saved the world from a thermonuclear holocaust. He is the hero of our times and should be recognized as such and honoured by us all.
Just last year over 120 countries signed a treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons. Those countries who ignore the treaty should be roundly condemned. The world was ‘lucky’ in 1983. How long will our ‘luck’ last?
What then is worst thingTrump has said? Surely it was his threatening North Korea with ‘fire and fury’. Such remarks create fear , fear in North Korea, knowing what was done to non-nuclear Iraq and Libya, that North Korea must have nuclear weapons too. And fear around the world. Next time there is a ‘mistake ‘ like the 14 January one, maybe humanity’s luck will run out.
Lois Griffiths is a human rights activist
As an American, I am offended by this misleading and inaccurate article. Every American welcomes immigrants who come to this country with something to offer. But many come here by sneaking across borders and expect to be given welfare for life. They don’t have any type of schooling. In fact some have no alphabet, so can’t read or write in any language. Many never assimilate our constitution. President Trump’s use of profanity was unfotunate. However, all of our presidents(even Obama) have used profanity but they were protected by their staff and the press. President Trump is not protected,nor liked, by the press and many of the stories you hear are not exactly true. I am not necessarily a big fan of our president, but he is our president and has done a lot for this country despite the Rocky road he has traveled.
Are you offended by this comment Ruby? If so why?
“I like the remarks coming from Norway about a ‘shithole’ of a country that does not have a decent publicly funded free health system.”