| 12 Mar '04 |
SCOTTISH NATIONAL STANDARD BEARER:
Peter Dow
I condemn utterly the mass-murder of the innocent people of Madrid and Spain on 11th March 2004.
At this time, I, as do the people of Scotland, have strong feelings of solidarity with the people of Madrid and Spain.
In particular, I express my condolences to the family and friends of the murdered and my sympathy to the injured victims of this outrage.
I consider this attack on the people of Madrid also to be an attack on the people of every city of Scotland too.
The people of, for example, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee love life and freedom as do the people of Madrid.
As the terrorists hate and murder the people of Madrid for loving as they do, the terrorists must hate and want to kill us Scots too.
The courage of the people of Spain is well known. It is a courage that today puts Spain at the front of the battle against international terrorism. The courage of the Spaniards is nothing new but is lasting.
History recalls the immense courage of the Spanish people in their heroic stand against the terrorist fascist Franco in their civil war and the long years of oppression following that.
From Scotland and from around the world, our best volunteer fighters rallied to the Spanish republican cause in the International Brigades.
Although 1936 was a temporary but serious military defeat for freedom, nevertheless, the courageous stand of the people of Spain was a political victory that inspired the freedom-loving people of the world to defy and then to defeat Hitler.
In a way, we owe the freedoms that we so often take for granted to the proud example set by the people of Spain in 1936.
In 2004, it is we Scots and others who are privileged to stand in solidarity with the people of Spain at this difficult time.
Despite whatever the terrorists' evil deeds are intended to achieve, the terrorists have simply strengthened and renewed the bonds of love between the people of Spain and the rest of the world.
Recalling the contempt the free Spaniards had for those contemptible pro-Franco terrorists, my defiant shout regarding those contemptible Madrid-bomber terrorists, echoes the Spanish republican slogan of 1936 - “They shall not pass!”
Global-reach terrorists such as Al Qaeda pose a new and growing threat to all of the peoples of the nations of the world. They have only been able to cause outrages such as the 11th September 2001 attacks on the United States of America because of the failure of the governments of the world to implement effective anti-terrorist measures. Up until recently, policies, intelligence and command and control have been negligent, counter-productive and stupid in the extreme. For example, many of the U.S presidencies after World War 2 have often had a nasty habit of covert or open funding and support of highly unreliable and undemocratic persons who later on develop into a threat to American interests. Past and present British governments have been equally self-destructive.
The war on terrorism is by no means won yet as many undemocratic regimes entirely dependent on the use of terror to stay in power still rule in many countries, in the middle east and further afield. It should be obvious by now that these undemocratic countries are far too dangerous for civilian Scots to visit or to live in whatever payment is offered. My advice is not to trust the U.K. Foreign Office reassurances - the U.K. government is under enormous political pressure and will say anything to defend lucrative U.K. business contracts with the likes of the Saudi government. Don't trust any of them.
The war on terrorism won't be won unless and until the U.S. government finds the determination to complete the democratisation of these other undemocratic countries that is has successfully begun with the removal of the Taliban from Afghanistan and Saddam from Iraq. Until then, Scotland should stand ready.
It is the military's job to deal with dangerous situations and Scots should be proud of the (April to July 2002) contribution of the Scotland-based Royal Marines (45 Commando) who have helped to scare away Al Qaeda from much of Afghanistan, for now anyway. Scots should be equally proud of their outstanding contribution to the liberation of Iraq.
When the British forces get half-decent political leadership ("lions led by lions") they can achieve great things. In Britain, the marines, air force and navy, in courageous fighting, add status to the anachronistic word "Royal" whereas the Royal family rarely do.
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