Editor

Every anniversary of 9/11 I remember the quoted remarks of a lawyer as she stood watching the destruction of the World Trade Centre, saying that she ‘could see cause and effect’.

Billions of words followed that remark, but none can compare, for they focus upon the global impact of international finance and its exploitation of world resources, particularly people, with little concern for the social welfare of those people.

In the ‘70s I worked on Das Island, in the Persian Gulf, and supervised a group of Pakistani welders who told me their canteen food was so poor they were compelled to buy and cook their own meals.

I mentioned this to the project manager, who said, “People who get something for nothing will always complain. I sign the requisition order for the canteen, and I know what goes into the canteen.”

My reply was not well received when I said that my time in the Navy taught me that what goes into a canteen does not always resemble what it serves up.

At this same time there had been a strike on a nearby refinery for similar, domestic reasons, resulting in the Arab police breaking heads and arms with their long truncheons, causing a nine month stoppage of labour to that job. The Western companies concerned were indifferent to the grievances of their work forces, mine included.

I would suggest the ‘cause’ was the colonial attitude, and the ‘effect’ was enduring resentment, ultimately bringing us to the mayhem in Kabul.

So well done the Labour Welsh Senedd for setting Westminster a good example with its asylum policy.

Roger Louvet Porthmadog

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