Letter To The ICBR: Re: Historical Inaccuracy
My question to you is: where do you get your historical information from?
'Yes. Any student of world history will tell you that if he had to pick a single nation to pin all the world's troubles on, Britain is far and away the obvious choice.'
This is the most sweeping generalisation I have ever encountered, and shows a woefully poor knowledge of world history. Consider the fact that 'Britain' has only existed for three hundred years, and it becomes more obvious how little you know. I am a student of world history, and I not only disagree with your claim, but would say that it implies total analytical idiocy.
'Modern Britain was founded through the systematic erasure of indigenous culture and language. The English rounded up natives, seized their property, and forced them to relinquish their heritage and take on British language and culture as their own. Anyone who dissented faced extermination.'
Right, so what happened to the 30 million or so Native Americans? Were they slaughtered wholesale by American settlers? Or did they just disappear? Why isn't modern American culture a peaceful blend of settler and native? Probably because the natives were either killed or culturally crushed.
'Beginning in the 18th century, Britain began making our lives worse through the introduction of machines in the workplace. The health, safety, and wages of workers took a back seat to owners' greed for ever-higher output and profits. The skies above the city—first London, then the world—were filled with black smoke. Waters were poisoned with noxious chemicals. Under the careless watch Britain's elite, the Industrial Revolution got off to a horrible start, the consequences of which have continued to ring down through the centuries. The melting of the polar icecaps, the loss of countless plants and animal species, and the imperiled condition of the human race on a planet made poisonous by misapplied technology are all a consequence of British negligence and hunger to accumulate wealth at any cost.'
Machines in the workplace? So the medium you are using to get your 'view' across (i.e. a computer) was invented by the British. I hope you are familiar with irony. Secondly, if you knew anything about history (which im am sure you do not) then you would know that Britain has at no point possessed an entirely free market. Some of the first studies into improving health and safety or the working classes was Seebohm Rowntree, who was wonder of wonders British, but I'm sure you already knew that. The United States on the other hand, is the embodiment of the free market, where profit is paramount. Indeed, you had to have a war before you would give up slavery to feed the desires of Americans for more money. As for the charge of causing Global Warming...all I can do is laugh at a citizen of a country that produces 40% of the world's fossil fuel output and hasn't even signed the Kyoto Treaty.
'Second Iraq War: $282 billion+ (As calculated by Congressional Appropriations. The irrational anger of radical Islam as embodied in Saddam Hussein's rogue state, is the expression of a deep grudge that started with the slaughter's inflicted by the British crown during the Crusades and later, Britain's ruthless treatment of the old Ottoman Empire.)'
Inflicted by the British Crown during the Crusades huh? Again we see your historical knowledge relegated to the level of rudimentary. The majority of the soldiers and pilgrims who travelled to the Holy Land were French, in fact, The English Crown didn't even send an official expedition until the Third Crusade (well after many of the major battles had already been fought). In addition to this, the focus of the Crusades were the modern states of Syria, Turkey, Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Egypt. Not Iraq. Geography also seems to be a weakness of yours.
'Versailles Refund $25 trillion ($26 billion that Britain extorted from defeated German government after World War I, with interest, compounded annually, an unfair and punitive settlement that was one of the primary causes of World War II.)'
The Versailles settlement was championed by the French and the Americans (who didn't even deserve the influence they had because they didn't enter the war until it was already won). The British were in fact the only nation to speak up in Germany's defence, arguing that it would cause problems later. The French and AMERICANS overruled this.
'Global Misrule. The terrorist threat has its roots in British mismanagement of the Middle East, particularly Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. Britain's imperialist past has so enraged Muslim extremists. Now America is deploying our sons, daughters, and tax dollars to clean up the mess that Britain made. The deaths caused by all the major wars of the 19th and early 20th century could have been prevented, or at least lessened, if the British hadn't waited until their backs were up against the wall before getting into the action. Most of the worst tyrants in power through the end of the 20th century were put there by the British, or came to power by filling the power vacuum the British Empire left behind.'
Britain's imperialist past enraged Muslim extremists so much that their primary target was the USA...wait...something doesn't seem right there. The last time the British had any direct influence in the Middle East was in the late forties. Apparently it has taken sixty years for the 'Muslim extremists' to react...by attacking the USA. Worst tyrants put there by the British? Of course! Franco, Hitler, Stalin, all were put there by the British. Wait, no, sorry...that's tripe. The British had nothing to do with the rise of those three. Backs against the wall? That's an odd statement coming from a member of the state that stood idly by for a year while Hitler ravaged Europe. I wasn't aware there were Americans at Dunkirk, or El Alamein for that matter. This is of course forgetting the absence of the States for most of the First World War while tens of thousands of British soldiers were killed (fighting by the way, not backed up against a wall).
'Sure, Britain isn't behind all of the world's problems—at least not directly. The old Soviet Union, for example, is estimated to be responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of its own citizens, to say nothing of the havoc its aggressive foreign policy wreaked abroad. But most of these deaths happened by way of prison camps (a British invention) or machine guns (another British invention). All roads of human suffering, particularly in the 20th century, lead back to Britain.'
By this infantile logic, the group of people who invented the wheel should be responsible for every single death caused by a wheeled vehicle, and every single death that resulted from an action involving a wheel (such as a drive-by shooting or armoured car in a war). The most horrific weapon known to man, the nuclear bomb, was perfected and USED by the United States of America. The first war that saw the widespread use of Gatling weapons was the American Civil War (which, as mentioned earlier, was being fought over an issue peacefully resolved in Britain decades before). Prison camps were in existence long before the British used them, and it is useful to note that at present nothing even remotely resembling a prison camp exists in Britain, the same cannot be said for the USA.
I could go on, but such is the scale of your farcical analysis of history that no more is needed. I rescind my question about your historical sources, primarily because you either possess none, or possess ones written by individuals as ignorant as your organisation. Here is some food for thought; the USA has invaded (yes, invaded, not 'helped' or 'liberated') seventy two countries since the Second World War. Seventy two. Perhaps before demanding reparations from the UK, you should use your vast wealth (generated by your exploitation of half the world's resources to the detriment of everyone else) to recompense every one of these countries.
I thank you for your time.
YES, I WOULD LIKE TO SIGN THE PETITION AND GET PAID!
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