Message de Nobel

Désigner le dramaturge britannique Harold Pinter comme Nobel de Littérature, c’était prendre le risque de déplaire à “nos amis Américains”. C’est fait. Les choix du Nobel dans les domaines culturels (comme celui de Jimmy Carter comme Nobel de la Paix) reflètent périodiquement l’évolution du sentiment politique général profond (mais le plus souvent dissimulé), y compris celui des autorités suédoises.

A l’occasion de son Nobel, Pinter a publié dans The Independent du même 14 octobre une version écourtée d’une intervention qu’il avait faite en février, lorsqu’il reçut le Wilfred Owen Award, du nom du poète Wilfrid Owen qui vécut au XIXème siècle. C’est le message de Nobel de Harold Pinter.

« ...But the “free world” we are told, as embodied in the United States and Great Britain, is different to the rest of the world since our actions are dictated and sanctioned by a moral authority and a moral passion condoned by someone called God. Some people may find this difficult to comprehend but Osama Bin Laden finds it easy.

» What would Wilfred Owen make of the invasion of Iraq? A bandit act, an act of blatant state terrorism, demonstrating absolute contempt for the concept of International Law. An arbitrary military action inspired by a series of lies upon lies and gross manipulation of the media and therefore of the public. An act intended to consolidate American military and economic control of the Middle East masquerading — as a last resort (all other justifications having failed to justify themselves) — as liberation. A formidable assertion of military force responsible for the death and mutilation of thousands upon thousands of innocent people.

» An independent and totally objective account of the Iraqi civilian dead in the medical magazine The Lancet estimates that the figure approaches 100,000. But neither the US or the UK bother to count the Iraqi dead. As General Tommy Franks of US Central Command memorably said: “We don't do body counts”.

» We have brought torture, cluster bombs, depleted uranium, innumerable acts of random murder, misery and degradation to the Iraqi people and call it “bringing freedom and democracy to the Middle East”. But, as we all know, we have not been welcomed with the predicted flowers. What we have unleashed is a ferocious and unremitting resistance, mayhem and chaos.

» You may say at this point: what about the Iraqi elections? Well, President Bush himself answered this question when he said: “We cannot accept that there can be free democratic elections in a country under foreign military occupation”. I had to read that statement twice before I realised that he was talking about Lebanon and Syria. »

Mis en ligne le 14 octobre 2005 à 12H55