Author Peadar King War, Suffering and the Struggle for Human Rights
by Peadar King (Liffey Press, €19.95/£18.95)
Anthony Redmond
I remember many years ago, when I read Wilfred Owen’s powerful anti-war poem, Dulce Et Decorum Est, how deeply it affected me with its description of the sheer horror, obscenity and cruelty of war. It was a poem that really made me think.
This book by Peadar King about the unspeakable suffering and cruelty of war has had the same effect on me. I cannot stop thinking about the people he met and the stories they tell of the pain they’ve endured. Many of these stories and accounts are the stuff of nightmares.
Peadar King is the presenter/producer of the documentary series What in the World? In this book he relates heartbreaking stories of about 13 different countries afflicted by war, racism and human misery. In a short review like this is forced to be, it is not possible to discuss all the places he has visited and the gut-wrenching stories he tells. The book covers a lot of ground: Afghanistan, Libya, South Sudan, Brazil, Iraq, Palestine/Israel, Syria and a number of other places, such as the Yemen.
Tyranny
When George W. Bush went to war on Iraq in 2003 and told the world triumphantly that the people of Iraq would be pleased to welcome US soldiers who would liberate them from tyranny and terror, we can see the terrible consequences of his ‘shock and awe’.
Samira Dawood was a kindergarten teacher and she was at home in Baghdad with her two small children as the bombs fell. She describes what happened that awful night: “The sky became bright and the night became like day from the missile explosions from the fighter jets. It was a state of horror. I myself was terrified but I was pacifying both my children and hugging them.
“We stood in a corner of the house because they say that the corner won’t collapse if an explosion happens. We remained standing and remained in that situation for two days, two consecutive days. We couldn’t get anything to eat or drink. We constantly recited some verses from the Quran and felt scared.”
We need to talk about war. Actual war. About the insufferable pain it causes. The dead and the slowly dying”
Peadar King comments: “Two days crouching by a pillar as the world collapses around you. With two traumatised children with nothing to eat or drink. How do you live through that experience? When your children ask, ‘are we going to die?’ What do you say? Two whole days without food and water.”
There are numerous harrowing stories like that, and even worse, in this powerful book.
Noam Chomsky has said that the world’s greatest terrorist is the USA.
On this description, Peadar King writes: “Chomsky argues that if Principle 111 of the Nuremberg principles – the fact that a person who committed an act which constitutes a crime under international law, while acting as Head of State or as a responsible government official, does not relieve him of responsibility under international law – were applied, every post-World War II president would be indictable.”
Peadar King goes on to mention Susan Sontag who said that many photos of war can be used by one side or the other as propaganda: “All photographs wait to be explained or falsified by their captors.”
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As I read this extraordinary book, I thought of Syria and the dreadful suffering of its people. After nine years of horrific killing and savagery, after the unspeakable cruelty and sheer sadism of ISIS, Donald Trump is imposing the most terrible and vicious sanctions on that unfortunate country and its people.
Food is in short supply and some medicine is no longer available in pharmacies. He doesn’t want anyone to help Syria rebuild. To make matters even worse, coronavirus has raised its ugly head in Syria. If Russia had not come to the aid of Syria the entire country would now be overrun by the most cruel and tyrannical Jihadists.
Of course, it goes without saying that there is deep suffering on all sides of this inhuman, horrific conflict. The West should be helping Syria to rebuild and find peace and security and not doing everything it can to ruin the country.
If Assad is bad, just think of the alternative!
Syria is a very beautiful, ancient country with warm and friendly people who deserve peace and security. It is up to the Syrian people to choose their own leaders, not the US, Britain or Saudi Arabia.
Peadar King writes: “We need to talk about war. Actual war. About the insufferable pain it causes. The dead and the slowly dying. The injuries that never go away. The destruction it brings. The mayhem it causes. The fear it induces. The grief that clings on. And the pain, the physical and emotional pain. There is no glory in war.
“There is no heroism in killing other human beings, whatever the cause. There is nothing heroic in invoking war, even as a metaphor, whatever the cause.”
This powerful, deeply moving book may keep you awake at night. It certainly brought tears to my eyes. Buy it, read it, share it.