Has anyone else noticed how many of those who consider themselves well educated and well informed members of our society appear to suffer from selective blindness and deafness when it comes to the atrocities occurring around the world? We seem to believe that if we don’t think about it, it will go away.

After WWII it was almost impossible to find a Nazi sympathizer in Germany. The ordinary German citizen had been hoodwinked by the Nazi’s and knew nothing of the crimes against humanity that had occurred under their very noses – or so they said. But of course this is mostly untrue. Many German civilians had to know what was going on and most of the rest knew in their heart-of-hearts but chose to bury their heads in the sand and know nothing and do nothing.

I suspect the same will be the case in Australia, the US and the UK, when history raises an eyebrow in askance and points an accusing finger, there will be few people who will admit to supporting the war in Iraq and the crimes against humanity which have occurred there, and continue to occur there, on a daily basis.

We will plead that we did not know! We were hoodwinked by our government! We trusted the media to tell us the truth! But history will not accept our protestations of ignorance, because we did know. We were all too ready to believe what our governments had to tell us. The truth was out there.

Any semi-informed person must know that the war in Iraq is less about WMD’s than it is about pumping oil from the veins of Iraqi children. Less about toppling the regime of the despotic Saddam than it is about the balance of power in the middle-east and securing Israel’s position in the area. Less about democracy for the Iraqi people and more about the blind and callous use of military force. Does anyone truly believe you can spit democracy from the barrel of a gun? By our silent complicity, we are accessories to all these horrendous crimes before, during, and after the fact.

But we can’t admit the truth. We can’t accept the onerous comparison between ourselves and the German civilians who “didn’t want to know

John, the US, the UK and Australia are viewed by most of the rest of the world, if not by all the democratic nations, as having certain attributes in common. English as the native language (which has now become the international lingua franca), economic wealth and the pursuit of wealth creation, a belief that their democracies are strong, vibrant and proven to be successful, and in the case of Australia and the US the ability to open its frontiers and accept and assimilate people from other nations - even if it could be argued that this was more in the past than the present.

To a great degree some, if not all, of these attributes are viewed as positive, especially in Western Europe in light of the Second World War and the dismantling of Communism in Eastern Europe.

Many would like to implement what they see as the "positives" of these countries and even try to emulate or imitate the values, cultural and social fabric of what I call this "triumvirate" or brotherhood of the English speaking world.

On the surface they are positive words and sentiments, and the triumvirate is eager that countries buy their word. But unfortunately it's not always easy to "judge a book by its cover" Thus many communities across the world have have been sold something for which they haven't read the find print. This is something that they will learn to either love or hate and I don't think any one could quibble with their right to do so.

With so much of a following (after so much mass marketing) the triumvirate has managed to capture the ear of most of the world and bring itself great power. Not just economic power but the power to influence opinion and also the power to instigate hate or compassion, alms or usury in places far from its home.

However, power also brings responsibilty. Apart from the human level of justice and empathy, it is also has a responsibility to listen to, accept and act on criticism.

Unfortunately the triumvirate treats any sort of criticism to its policies as a crime against humanity (mostly Christian) and a personal affront. It has abroggated a responsibilty to listen and has rejected accountability with an alarming arrogance and disdain.

The sensibilities of the world seem to be shifting and where once (in modern history) there was debate, now there seems that only one voice should be heard.

Currently in Europe, after September 11, any criticism against the US, be it its political policies , how it treats its citizens or foreign policy is viewed as a direct attack on every US citizen and on all those positive values that the triumvirate extols.

Debate ony any issue regarding any action, or any point of view in any area of life in any area of the world by this triumvirate has been "dumbed down" to responses such as "you are anti American and anti democratic".

People have either become afraid to respond to such words or are tired of arguing against them.

Debate has been absolutely stifled with a simple disparaging label.

I think that September 11 should have made the US more responsible in its relations with the rest of the world. Instead it forced the English speaking nations to join in its "celebration of anger" and form a Triumvirate of cohersion.

It bullied other nations into a coalition through false morality and made citizens of those other nations feel that they were no longer autonimous and able to criticise, even in the name of peace, They have been made to feel that any criticism of US or Triumvirate policy is attempting to justify terrorism or committing another act of terrorism. They have been made to feel morally obliged (bludgeoned) or economicaly dependent to remain silent.

Responsibility and accountability have been stricken from the dictionary. Criticism, I'm sorry to say, just hasn't existed in an American dictionary for decades.

McCarthysm came and went: Now the world has to wait and suffer through these current American "isms" - egoism and jingoism until it can defecate "Bushism" and total up the sum of its losses, as it it did in the past with other errors it made.

Unfortunately it is no longer one country making mistakes within its own borders, but three very stupid and arrogant countries and their populations acting in unabridged arrogance using their "moral hard sell" to drag the rest of the world into "you are with me or against me doctrines" and fragmenting what is left .

We have a long wait for reasoned peace and no-one is prepared to take responsibility for the role that they have placed the rest of the world in.

I think you should contact the communists and ask them if the dismantling of Communism was positive.
I think you should contact the Iraqis and ask them if the dismantling of Communism was positive. Communist Russia can not now defend them, and nerither can the UN.
We had "Cold wars"; they were cold sores on the world. Now with unfettered capitalism we have hot wars and wounds.
It is too simplistic and biased to say the rest of the world view the UK, the US and Australia as aligned.
You should go and ask the rest of the world.
The US does not play cricket.
The US does not play Rugby league.
The US does not play Rugby Union.
Debate is stifled if the bait is hooked with one eye at one end and barbed on the other for Aussie fish to swallow.
What has changed since communism was dismantled? Nothing.

John, if you think it is a phoney war think again.
Telstra will be up for sale this year. The US has the money to buy it. Let's see if Australia has democracy when the US controls our communications system.
Thanks John for the phoney war and, historically speaking, our democracy.

Perhaps I'm some sort of closet sociological genius - in fact the more I think about it the more I convince myself - but I've never understood why these things need to be spelt out when they're as obvious as the nose on my face. Which is quite obvious, let me inform you.

In the lead up to the Iraq invasion I kept making an absolute idiot of myself, running around like Henny Penny's evil sister yelling, "What weapons of mass destruction?! How can it be?! They haven't got two sticks to rub together!"

Well. Don't I feel like a latter day prophet. It's not often One gets the opportunity to be right before the event. Milk milk milk.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this well researched article. Mainly because it made me feel smug, but perhaps also because it's good to see stuff like this out in the open, plain as the nose on my face.