Thanks to Wikileaks, the power of the internet and the Guardian, we now have some kind of truth about the war in Afghanistan.
A truth that, if we had ever given it more than a moment’s thought in our busy lives, we probably could have guessed for ourselves. A truth that says more about the state of British democracy than what goes on behind the stories and lies we are fed about a shabby and ill-conceived military campaign.
The expectation of openness or honesty from our elected politicians – and the secret army of faceless, civil servants and Whitehall mandarins who manipulate them - clearly still has a long way to go before it becomes a reality, if it ever will. A considerable amount of wool has been pulled over our eyes by introducing a Freedom of Information Act that is simply window dressing and – despite a policy of Open Government – very little has changed in real terms.
We, or rather the politicians, are just going through the motions. Paying lip service to the notion of a democratic government which is accountable to the people it is supposed to serve. Theirs remains a world of lies and deceit, of smoke and mirrors, of spin and outright propaganda: not aimed at a terrorist ‘enemy’, but at the ordinary citizens of Britain and America.
The lack of truth is ‘in the interests of national security’, we are told. However, national security is unlikely to be compromised by information which is months or even years old, and which is already history. Nor is anyone suggesting that the armed forces’ detailed strategy against our Taliban foes should be given to the newspapers in advance. There is, in any case, enough reportage and hypothesis on Allied tactics in the broadsheets every week. Any Afghan warlord who cares to stump up two quid at his local newsagent can read it for himself.
The politicans miss the point, as usual. Why do they think we need to know?
It is because our sons and daughters are being killed and our money is being spent by the billion to fight this questionable cause. We are entitled to more honesty and transparency from our politicians about the reasons for war and the mistakes they have made in waging it – without having to wait to get it from whistleblowers.
Whether it’s good or bad news, we must have the truth. Only then can we make proper choices about who to elect and who to sack; about what we are prepared to let them to do in the name of our country and what we are not; about whether we want them to build more schools and hospitals for our society, or go to war.
Just give us the truth and let us – the people – decide, through the ballot box, by referendum, gathering a petition or by whatever other means we have at our disposal in order to make our voice heard.
…but of course, that’s what they are afraid of.
