These demonstrations were particular hard to stomach today as television coverage alternated between pictures of the dead and wounded of the atrocity in Istanbul and the protestors in London with their placards declaring “George Bush – number one terrorist”.
I half-wondered if Stop the War might have the political nous, decency or common sense to turn their protest this afternoon into an act of solidarity with the people of Istanbul but that appears to be wishful thinking.
Sky News, in what I found rather soft coverage of the protests, did at least raise the question with the protestors and almost always the answer was that Istanbul was either a consequence of the Iraq war or was basically the fault of Blair and Bush.
An old Housemartins song comes to mind:
Sometimes I get so angry with the simple life they lead
The shepherds smile seems to confirm my fears
They’ve never questioned anything, They’ve never disagreed
Sometimes I think they must have wool in their ears
And when you see a can I see a crook
And when you see a crowd I see a flock
It’s sheep we’re up against
Sheep we’re up against