[295.5] COLONEL BLOWS HIS TOP - NO-ONE HURT

Military expert says peacemakers didn’t imperil soldiers (Ekklesia, UK, 17.00 GMT) - Good news. As reported earlier on FinS, a senior counter-terrorism and military security analyst has confirmed that it is nonsense to say that Christian Peacemaker Teams caused any danger to soldiers in Iraq by their presence, or by the way they were freed. What's more, contends Colonel Mike Dewar, CPT have every right to be there. Before you run away with the idea that nonviolence has found an unexpected friend in the army, however, read the story and/or have a listen to the 'discussion' on BBC 2 ('listen again - Monday'). Poor old Mike, a stalwart pro-Iraq war commentator, almost explodes with indignation and contempt for anyone who disagrees with him, not least those soppy praying peacenik types. You really do worry for his blood pressure. He's certainly not the kind to shoot himself in the foot ... when machine gunning both his own legs off on a live broadcast is a going option! Sad really. But please don't tell him you're sad - that sets him off something rotten, too. And the idea that people (Norman, Harmeet and Jim) who have just been released from a four-month hostage ordeal and then told that a close colleague (Tom) has been killed might not immediately produce an ideal press release is, according to the Colonel, "special pleading of a most unattractive kind". It's truly cartoon-like in its unfeelingness and unknowingness. As Jonathan Bartley said, in a rational and good-temered contribution, "bewildering." In fact I'm not sure that Dewar is really a defence analyst at all. Judging from his capabilities at generating counter-productive apoplexy, I think he must be a secret mole for the peace movement ;-) ... A lighter reflection in an otherwise deadly serious situation. [Picture: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp on Broadway. The Colonel - no relation - blows a gasket.]

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