No To NATO: Breaking Down The Wall
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of theSprout or CLIConline
Announcing that Wales would host the NATO Summit 2014, the Prime Minister said:
"We had the G8 in Northern Ireland, we had the Olympics in London, we’ve got the Commonwealth Games in Scotland - it is Wales’ turn for one of these big events, a great showcase for Wales and a great opportunity and I’m really pleased that we are going to be doing that."
Yet there will be no postcards made from this time in Cardiff and Newport, as we have been plagued with hideous grey security walls, keeping us from the so-called "important lot" that do what needs to be done. You can't miss these walls, as if we were in Palestine. Like something out of Children Of Men and faced with a hoard of police officers (and the leavings from their horses!), the thought of all this security makes me cringe and also rage a great deal. We now may be at Terror Alert Red, thanks solely to NATO being in the Welsh capital.
Cardiff can't even cope when the main rugby matches are here, let alone a massive event like this. Who are the police protecting really? Us or them? I laughed with great gusto when a tweet basically said that it would be easier to put Obama in a metal cage and kick him around Cardiff. Sure it's great to finally have an American president here in Wales (a few previous presidents claim Welsh ancestry including Obama). Pope John Paul II coming here in the 80s was a big deal, since he was the first ever Pope to grace us with a visit; he even blessed the ground with a kiss. A memorable moment in Wales' recent history.
With protests and much resentment for NATO simply coming here, this could be a black spot on Wales' character for some time. We have simply lost the love in these paranoid, post 9/11 times where security is king and the humanity is taken out of everything. It's heartbreaking and makes me rally a cry of "no more!" This coming from someone who is hardly politically charged to any extent.
We welcome the world leaders today, but we also hope they acknowledge the efforts taken and inconveniences to have them here in the first place.
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1 Comment – Post a comment
Sam Sprout (Editor)
Commented 20 months ago - 4th September 2014 - 11:33am