FROM ACROSS THE POND

I used to think that the definition of irony was taking the escalator up to the Gym, but now I think the following may supersede that. At the request of George Pataki, the Governor of New York State (shortly after 9/11) Gordon England, the Secretary of the United States Navy has named a surface warship, engaged in the 'war on terror', with the name of Mr Pataki's State (State names are generally reserved for submarines). Twenty four tonnes of steel from the stricken buildings was taken to New Orleans and used by Northrop Grumman Systems in the construction of an amphibian assault ship which will be ready by next year. This extrapolates to the (almost) 3,000 who perished on the day being honoured? remembered? commemorated? (one doesn't know which epitaph to utilise) by a vessel built to ensure that the violence which came about as an indirect result of an interventionist foreign policy that achieved the exact opposite of its stated aims will continue its cycle. The USS New York will carry 360 soldiers and 700 combat-ready Marines. It will put to sea with the motto "Never Forget". Would the victims want a warship dedicated to their memory? do their relatives condone this? Could it not be, that over-reliance on warships was their downfall in the first place. What is being commemorated here is NOT their passing, but failure; the failure of American foreign policy to protect the interests of its citizens or to make their world a safer place. America was attacked because the actions of successive Governments have made it the enemy to large tranches of humanity. To the outside world, more and more, American foreign policies are dividing and allienating not only its perceived enemies, but its allies too. Is the heavy symbolism of the naming of this ship appropriate...is it appropriate to use the rubble of one unconscionable disaster to manufacture machinery that will continue the violence and carnage. Is yet another warship going to promote American values, or continue (as I see it)to pollute them.