How dare the Belarus government hijack a Ryanair flight to kidnap opposition journalist Roman Protasevich. The West condemns this piracy in the strongest possible terms. This is an outrage! This is behaviour unacceptable in the civilised West. This is just not how Western countries behave.
Such is the amnesia which afflicts us. Nobody now recalls the thousands of men kidnapped by the CIA from the streets of Western cities, who were flown on to detention centres in Afghanistan, Egypt, Jordan and Syria to face degrading and inhuman interrogation techniques at the hands of intelligence agents from multiple Western countries.
Nor does anyone remember that the United States forced the Bolivian President’s plane to land in Vienna in 2013, because they believed he was transiting asylum-seeking Edward Snowden to Russia. He wasn’t.
Thank goodness for the asphyxia which perpetually numbs our intellects, or else we might be forced to confront our own hypocrisy. Thank goodness for our comatose bewilderment which leaves us unable to comprehend anything that happens in the world.
Thank goodness we civilised folk are so much more enlightened than those dreadful, kidnapping pirates over there. Ah, to be Western and pure.
Last modified: 21 September 2024
