Saturday 19 May 2012

Giles Fraser on guns, fear and NATO!

Giles Fraser, who resigned from the staff of St Paul's Cathedral over their treatment of the Occupy the Stock Exchange protestors, now writes for the Guardian, and is a vicar of a South London church. His column today is thought provoking. NATO Monitor was struck by this section:
Fear justifies the need for security. And the need for security justifies more spending on guns. For Nato, it used to be the Russians, but now it's Iran.
The problem with this logic is right under the noses of Nato leaders, should they venture out of their compounds. The murder rate in Chicago is up 54% this year. The Windy City now has more murders than New York which has more than twice the population. This is mostly down to the fact that the place is awash with guns and fear, with each of these continually justifying their own existence with respect to the other.
It is an interesting link between the US gun culture which believes (in the face of all the evidence) that arming as many people as possible will enhance public safety, and those who follow the same plan in national security.

NATO Monitor argues for dialogue, confidence and security building measures, combined with reduced levels of arms. It is precisely those policies which have enhanced security and reduced fear in Europe. NATO needs ot look to its past actions to build better policies for the future.

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