The Appalling And Appalled Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown seems to think that some people have the right to freedom of speech and some don’t.

From Brown irked by plan for antiwar demo:

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says he is appalled by an Islamic group's proposal to demonstrate against the UK's continuation of war in Afghanistan.

In a Monday statement issued in response to calls by the Islam4UK group for a protest march in the country, Brown expressed strong dismay at the plan and said he was “personally appalled” by the group's bid to protest against the government's war policies in Afghanistan.

The statement came after the Islam4UK leader, Anjem Choudary, informed families of fallen British soldiers in Afghanistan about his plan to organize an antiwar rally on Wootton Bassett streets where there has recently been a cortege of a number of killed soldiers.

Choudary told the BBC about his intention to honor “Muslim victims” of the conflict in Afghanistan, mainly Afghan civilians.

“It's to highlight the real cost of the war in Afghanistan,” the 42-year-old lawyer of Pakistani descent noted, adding, “The sad reality of the situation is that if I were to hold it somewhere else, it would not have the media attention that it has now.”

“It is worth reminding those who are still not blinded by the media propaganda that Afghanistan is not a British town near Wootton Bassett but rather Muslim land which no one has the right to occupy, with a Muslim population who do not deserve their innocent men, women and children to be killed for political mileage and for the greedy interests of the oppressive US and UK regimes,” he added.

Personally, I find war to be appalling, not speech. I also never find anti-war rallies to be appalling.

There is a comment to this news item that I find interesting:

The ones who should be ashamed are not those who stand for the Divine Principles of Truth & Justice, rather those who engage in the aggressive military invasions of other lands, oppressing and killing the innocents. In addition, each soldier, if he warrants the name, needs to look deeply into their conscience and ask if they are fighting a just war to defend their country or an oppressive, unjust one.