Hello all, here are the articles from the first show of this semester, which aired on the 3rd February...

The US arms manufacturer Trijicon has said it has plans to remove Christian messages stamped onto gun sights which are used by troops in Afghanistan. An article published in the Guardian last week revealed that the company promises to remove the references to New Testament passages following objections from military chiefs in New Zealand.

The markings blend into the serial number and product information on the weapon referencing passages from John 8:12, reading "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."

The use of explicit Christian messages on guns used by Britain, the US and New Zealand troops in a Muslim country has sparked fears that some may perceive that western countries are engaging in a religious crusade in Afghanistan.

Major Kristian Dunne has released a statement admitting the uncomfortable nature of the situation and that he sees ‘how they would cause offence’. The UK Ministry of Defense claims it was previously unaware of the messages and the sights were purchased because they were the best available.

Trijicon, founded by a devoutly Christian South African has said it would provide free kits to remove the markings.

by Rachel Maltas

Details of peace talks instigated by senior members of the Taliban with representatives of the UN in Dubai this month emerged following a conference in London last week. The talks were held to discuss the transition of Afghan security from NATO military control to the responsibility of the Afghan forces, which would allow for the withdrawal of foreign troops within five years.

The revealed talks, heralded as the first time Taliban leaders have willingly approached an international organisation to help bring an end to the nine year Afghan war, signify a potential revival of the peace negotiations which broke down last year.

Although details of the talks concerning the extent of Taliban involvement and the commitment they have promised remain unconfirmed, there is a strong suggestion that divisions within the Taliban are beginning to form. Those assumed to be involved include mid-level commanders who have realised the futility of the fighting as well as younger commanders wanting to take a less extremist stance than their predecessors.

In light of the conference and these Taliban involved talks, a grand peace council is due to be convened within the month, inviting all elders of the Afghan region to participate including those with Taliban connections. Speaking on the possibility of Taliban support for a settlement, President Karzai of Afghanistan stressed the need to encourage all ‘disenchanted brothers’ to unite in the cause of peace. Moreover, the support for a non-violent resolution has been met with a positive response from forces outside the country, with Hilary Clinton confirming US support for further peace talks with Taliban members and NATO General McChrystal adamant that there has been enough conflict and loss.

Due to the many obstacles that negotiations will undoubtedly face this optimism has to be met with an element of caution. Notably, there are still many “red lines” of non-negotiable areas for the Taliban, including their highly controversial reluctance to sever ties with al-Qaida. The way forward must be to further decrease the strength of the already weakening group, offering security and benefits to those Taliban commanders willing to contribute to a peaceful settlement.

by Vicky Lumb

Last week saw debut films from two British satirists screen at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. In ‘Four Lions’ Chris Morris, creator of ‘Brass Eye’ finds farce in wannabe suicide bombers whilst graffiti artist Banksy’s film ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’ is said to blend reality and ‘self induced fiction’, calling itself ‘the world’s first street art disaster movie’.

With shows such as ‘The Day Today’ and ‘Brass Eye’, Chris Morris targeted tabloid sensationalism surrounding issues such as drugs, sex and paedophilia. The last of which was the subject of the ‘Brass Eye’ special ‘Paedogedden!’, in which the programme makers managed to dupe celebrities into reading ridiculous facts about paedophiles, for instance DJ Dr Neil Fox claimed they had more genes in common with crabs. It is with the same spirit that Morris has turned on today’s most sensitive issue, terrorism. The story follows a group of British Muslims from Sheffield, lead by a white convert, who intend to blow themselves up at the London Marathon. The BBC deemed the plot too controversial; with Film4 eventually agreeing to fund the film. The one available online clip seems instep with Morris’ claim that the film will do for Jihadists what ‘Dad’s Army’ did for Nazis, showing their stupidity as well as horror. The clip shows one of the young men attempting to explain how when buying bleach with which to make explosives, he disguised himself with an ‘IRA voice’, despite the terrorist implications and as a woman, despite his beard. Despite no general release date yet, the film is already attracting similar controversy to Morris’ earlier projects, namely many saying that terrorism is no laughing matter. One of the film’s actors Arsher Ali, when speaking to the Today programme, spoke of the need for films like this to act as a counterpoint to the daily news coverage terrorism receives, saying within those stories are ones which are ‘Inherently comic and inherently human’. It is this ‘humanistic’ strand that the film is said to focus on, alongside the group’s comic ineptitude, urging the viewer to sympathise with the character’s humanity as a means of understanding Islamic fundamentalists. It is the comic context and apparent subsequent lack of depth however that critics are suggesting is the stumbling block in showing how the characters became so mixed up in the warped ideologies.

‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’ was, perhaps unsurprisingly, a surprise addition to the Sundance line up but by the time of its screening had stoked up heavy anticipation due in no small part to Banksy’s own guerrilla marketing across the walls of the festival’s home, Park City. The plot follows a naive French film maker Thierry Guetta, who the still unmasked graffiti artist begins to mentor, though only letting him film him from behind. Guetta starts to create his own street art, and in a role reversal Banksy begins to record him and his morphing of desire for expression into wild and vacuous self expression. Though Banksy remains anonymous, his tepid commentary accompanying his documentation of ‘Mr Brainwash’s’ decline is said to bring us closer than ever to him. The film was well received at its premiere, at which Banksy was said not to be in attendance, but his presence was felt in a filom that claimed from the outset ‘Everything is true. Especially the bits where we all lie.’

by Alex Bishop

Last Friday former Prime Minister Tony Blair faced the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War. Blair was summoned in order to answer questions about the decisions he made in the run up to the Iraq invasion in 2003. He was asked to clarify precisely what he knew about the potential presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and what promises he had made to the US prior to Britain’s commitment.

Blair was interrogated for 6 hours, during which he insisted that he had ‘no regrets’ over toppling Saddam Hussein. However he gave no explanation as to why he sent 40,000 troops to disarm a country of non-existent Weapons of Mass Destruction. He told the inquiry: "This isn't about a lie or a conspiracy or a deceit or a deception. It's a decision. And the decision I had to take was could we take the risk of this man reconstituting his weapons programmes or is that a risk that it would be irresponsible to take?" Surely however the most risk adverse decision would have been to allow the UN time to investigate the claims of the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, rather than go in guns blazing ‘just in case’.

Subsequently Clare Short, former International Development Secretary, has appeared before the Chilcot Inquiry and has made some flammatory accusations regarding the evidence Blair gave. Short has accused Blair of mis-leading Parliament in the run up to the Iraq invasion and of lying to herself. She claims that in a conversation had with Blair in 2002 he told her that he was not planning for war against Iraq, however evidence has revealed that he was not telling the truth.

She claimed that Cabinet Meetings at the time did not fulfil the role they are intended to, "It was not a decision-making body. I don't think there was ever a substantive discussion about anything in cabinet. If you ever raised an issue with Tony Blair he would cut it off. He did that in July 2002 when I said I wanted to talk about Iraq. He said he did not want it leaking into the press."

She has also claimed that Gordon Brown was becoming increasingly uneasy at this time and uncomfortable with the plans regarding Iraq. She said Brown was feeling, “unhappy and marginalised” in the run up to war, and that he worried Blair was, “obsessed with his legacy”. Clare Short stood down from Cabinet 8 weeks after the invasion.

It was confirmed this weekend that Blair will be called back to the Chilcot Inquiry to give evidence once again, both in public and private due to conflicting evidence to that which he gave.

Blair’s evidence contradicts that given by Lord Goldsmith on the issue of the legality of the invasion. Lord Goldsmith was the Attorney General at the time, and the account each has given as to the number of discussions they had on legality in the days before the invasion do not correlate.

It has also emerged that Blair told Lord Boyce, Chief of the Defence Staff, that it was his “unequivocal” view that any invasion was entirely lawful. However on the question of legality, Blair informed the Inquiry that any decision was “always a very, very difficult balanced judgement”. These two comments do not quite match up, and Blair’s recent comment suggests a far greater degree of uncertainty than he admitted at the time of the invasion.

There has been a great deal of criticism of Blair’s appearance before the inquiry, directed at both the panel asking questions and at Blair’s response to them. In an editorial on Sunday, the Guardian described Blair’s appearance as, “pure theatre”, with the questioning, “neither forensic nor consistent enough to disturb Mr Blair's composure, let alone force him into embarrassing disclosure”.

An interesting campaign has since been launched by George Monboit, encouraging members of the public to apprehend Tony Blair with a citizen’s arrest, claiming this is the only way justice will be achieved. A fund has been set up that has received several thousand pounds of donations which will be used to financially reward anyone who attempts to arrest Blair. Already one woman, Grace McCann, has attempted to apprehend Mr Blair when he left the Chilcot Inquiry before she was restrained by Police. Monboit claims that, “While Blair can brush off the Chilcot panel, this bounty fund ensures that he will never rid himself of accountability for his actions. It shows governments that they may no longer destroy ¬people's lives and expect us to forget”.

by Beatrice Pickup - Editor