Do the right thing
I have to add my name to this extremely worthy campaign.
Have a look here for what to do, and then write a letter (preferably a bit less pompous than mine) to your local MP.
Dear Karen
As a constituent I am writing to you regarding your attitude towards the fate of the many thousands of Iraqi civilians who have supported, and who continue to support the efforts of the British Army in Southern Iraq, and specifically whether you support their rights to indefinite leave to remain within the United Kingdom. I would certainly aver that they do have such a right: they have put their lives in very great danger in the service both of their own country and, by extension, ours. Should they be unable to leave Iraq in the aftermath of a British withdrawal that looks now only to be a matter of time there is an obvious threat to their lives. In on recent incident in Basra 17 Iraqi translators were found murdered.
There is a clear moral imperative for Britain to protect those who have risked their lives for us, and no overwhelming practical reason why she should not. Denmark, for example, has recently granted asylum to all Iraqis who worked with Danish forces in Iraq. The British Army is an institution that relies heavily on the principles of duty and honour; to abandon friends and colleagues to danger and death would as dishonourable an act as can be imagined. As important is the message that such a betrayal would send: that the British are only fair-weather friends. This is surely not what we would like our international reputation to be; it would certainly not help in Afghanistan or in future conflicts.
This is not by any means an attack on the politics of the war in Iraq. Whether you, or I, supported the war or not is not the issue. This is a question of acting, as quickly as possible, to avoid the avoidable tragedy of witnessing the deaths of civilians whose ‘crime’ was to have risked their lives for the Coalition in Iraq. I would very much appreciate your opinions on this matter.
Yours sincerely
Tim J
Have a look here for what to do, and then write a letter (preferably a bit less pompous than mine) to your local MP.
Dear Karen
As a constituent I am writing to you regarding your attitude towards the fate of the many thousands of Iraqi civilians who have supported, and who continue to support the efforts of the British Army in Southern Iraq, and specifically whether you support their rights to indefinite leave to remain within the United Kingdom. I would certainly aver that they do have such a right: they have put their lives in very great danger in the service both of their own country and, by extension, ours. Should they be unable to leave Iraq in the aftermath of a British withdrawal that looks now only to be a matter of time there is an obvious threat to their lives. In on recent incident in Basra 17 Iraqi translators were found murdered.
There is a clear moral imperative for Britain to protect those who have risked their lives for us, and no overwhelming practical reason why she should not. Denmark, for example, has recently granted asylum to all Iraqis who worked with Danish forces in Iraq. The British Army is an institution that relies heavily on the principles of duty and honour; to abandon friends and colleagues to danger and death would as dishonourable an act as can be imagined. As important is the message that such a betrayal would send: that the British are only fair-weather friends. This is surely not what we would like our international reputation to be; it would certainly not help in Afghanistan or in future conflicts.
This is not by any means an attack on the politics of the war in Iraq. Whether you, or I, supported the war or not is not the issue. This is a question of acting, as quickly as possible, to avoid the avoidable tragedy of witnessing the deaths of civilians whose ‘crime’ was to have risked their lives for the Coalition in Iraq. I would very much appreciate your opinions on this matter.
Yours sincerely
Tim J
Labels: Iraq
posted by Tim J at
4:01 pm
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