Friday 5 October 2012

What About Us Then?

Some call it the the Stars and Stripes, others say Old Glory or even The Star Spangled Banner but in some Asian streets it is mostly known as that pile of ashes over there.
It seems that you can't turn on a television lately without watching some pyromaniac Muslim dancing around a flaming American flag, especially after the film 'Innocence of Muslims' put in an appearance and rather predictably wound up a good portion of the Asian world.
While it might not be a good time for makers of inflammatory films that mock Mohammad, it is boom time for flag makers and irate Muslims with a box of matches.
'Whenever we have these demonstrations, I make 10 times as much money as normal' said the manager at Panaflex printers who charges 120 and 1,500 rupees depending on size and quality but all are guaranteed to catch fire easily which is, of course, important.
The Israeli flag is the second flag of choice for the arsonist but as hard as we look, our very own Union Flag is staying relatively flame free these days which beggars the question, are we not as worthy as Israel and America that our flag doesn't deserve a good burning also?
I understand that America with it's drones and foreign policy that seems to revolve around invading oil rich countries in your region and Israel with its policy of trying to start a war with a neighbouring country whenever there is a number in the month, but Britain is usually involved somewhere.
Granted it is mostly cheering from the sidelines and making the tea but we are one of the Worlds busiest arms sellers so there is a good chance that the bullet currently zinging through your front door has 'Made in Britain' stamped on it somewhere. 
We also have a decent record of supporting the guys who have been oppressing you for decades so come on Asia, give a little country who has long since lost its place in the World a bit of an ego boost and give the Union Jack a flick of that lighter because there are other nasty Governments around outside of Washington and Tel Aviv. 

1 comment:

david g said...

Not much use burning the British flag because few people in the world would know what it looked like!

Of course, Britain is heavily into making armaments and applying children-starving sanctions so it's a wonder its flag isn't sent to flag-heaven more often.

America get the lion's share of flag-burning because it kills the most people by a long shot.

Lucy, get Cameron to drop a few nukes, perhaps on Iran. It pays to advertise!