The release of Norman Kember returns him to normality. For four months he has been a ghost, hovering on the edge of our consciousness. Now he is human again, we can criticise him for going there in the first place, or not thanking the troops enough. We would not talk of Ken Bigley in this manner.
4 Replies to “Kember: No longer a ghost”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Of course not, because he’s dead. Kember was very lucky to get out of the siuation alive, and he has the right to say whatever he wants about Iraq. Still, a word of thanks to the British government and special forces who rescued him wpuldn’t have gone amiss. This is not some point-scoring exercise over whether the Iraq war was “right or wrong” – if someone had saved my life, I’d offer my unconditional thanks to them, regardless of our differences.
Robert,
You are keen on definitions: he was not RELEASED.
This is a very serious error on your part. The fact that his rescue – by the very men against whom he was campaigning – is couched in these terms shows his total moral bankrupcy.
As an Army advert once asked:
“Which is easier: to go into a peaceful situation and create trouble or to go into a troubled situation and create peace?”
The second is what our armed forces do. Kember – and more importantly his organisation – should have decency to acknowledge this.
PG
Thanks folks.
I fear I have come unstuck due to my typing a blog post in haste. Re-reading it now, it does seem as if I’m taking Kember’s side unconditionally in the spat over whether or not he thanked the rescue team quickly enough.
In fact, I was merely plugging an older post of mine, and observing how people drift in and out of our colelctive consciousness. They become ghosts or icons for a time – beyond criticism – before returning (sometimes) to the earthly realm once more.
Kember is living proof that there’s no fool like an old fool. He knew the risks he was taking by going to Iraq, and when the worst happens he will not even thank the soldiers who risked their lives. Pity they didn’t leave the old duffer there.