Set up UN-style group to stop war – before it’s too late...
ACCORDING to the IsraelPalestine Timeline website, at least 35,728 Palestinians and 2,654 Israelis have been killed by the other side since 2000.
This includes at least 8,821 Palestinian children and 177 Israeli children, but does not include indirect conflict deaths, or deaths in other Middle East conflicts happening in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and elsewhere.
The value of these Palestine and Israeli statistics is that they are by far the most detailed and complete of any recent conflict, and the website includes the names and photos of many of those children killed. Their deaths are not just due to ‘military necessity’ or collateral damage – they are due to very serious war crimes.
All these conflicts and deaths are not only avoidable, they create a serious risk of catastrophic escalation, posing existential threats to humanity. Such conflicts continue to occur because of the abuses of power and the scramble for resources by the most powerful states, and by other states that follow such bad examples.
A genuinely altruistic international community, backed up by an effective system of global jurisprudence, including a dynamic system of global legislation, is urgently needed. The United Nations has failed to achieve its ambitious aspirations, just as the League of Nations did. The powers that established the UN in the aftermath of the Second World War probably never intended that abuses of power should be curtailed by the UN or by anyone else.
Human ingenuity and human intelligence have the ability to create peace with justice for all of humanity. Instead, human stupidity and so-called artificial intelligence are being misused and, if not controlled, may precipitate the end of humanity. EDWARD HORGAN, Castletroy, Limerick.
Dying to save humanity
I WAS once asked (no, I have no idea why I was asked either) what I thought God’s thoughts were on those who died by suicide.
I hazarded that it didn’t really matter if you reached your final destination a little earlier than planned, because it gave you the chance to study what might have been for you and your family.
I am now of the opinion that God would much prefer people to arrive there sooner than expected, rather than becoming like a Trump, Putin, Epstein or any other mover and shaker you care to mention, and living long enough to cause untold damage to both Mother Nature and mankind.
LIAM POWER, Dundalk, Co. Louth.
Old soldiers never die
BUSY flinging bottles into the bottle bank – and there were lots – I was stopped in my tracks. ‘Can I come to your next party? a jolly voice asked. ‘Of course you can,’ I replied. I explained it was a party for someone who thought they were 90. However it transpired they were only 89 so it will be done all over again next year.
This chap was 93 and ex-army. He served in the Second World War as a radio operator and carried an enormous radio on his back. He dived for cover in one battle to avoid a hand grenade so now his back gets quite poorly at times. He also did sentry duty outside Buckingham Palace in a big furry hat.
He looked terrific. His secret, he explained, was a drop of the hard stuff and the love of many a good woman. ‘Well I never!’ Each to their own, I suppose.
We encounter each other now and again. I wave and he stands to attention, clicks his heels together and salutes me. This old soldier is fighting his last battle against old age and, by God, he won’t go down without a fight. As Dylan Thomas wrote, ‘Do not go gently into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.’