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Heart of smugness Unlike Belgium, Britain is still complacently ignoring the gory cruelties of its empire Maria Misra Tuesday July 23, 2002 The Guardian So the Belgians are to return to the Heart of Darkness in an attempt finally to exorcise their imperial demons. Stung by another book cataloguing the violence and misery inflicted by King Leopold's empire on the Congo in the late 19th and early 20th century, the state-funded Royal Museum for Central Africa in Brussels has commissioned a group of historians to pass authoritative judgment on accusations of genocide: forced labour, systematic rape, torture and murder of...

The Widow at Windsor 'Ave you 'eard o' the Widow at Windsor With a hairy gold crown on 'er 'ead? She 'as ships on the foam -- she 'as millions at 'ome, An' she pays us poor beggars in red. (Ow, poor beggars in red!) There's 'er nick on the cavalry 'orses, There's 'er mark on the medical stores -- An' 'er troopers you'll find with a fair wind be'ind That takes us to various wars. (Poor beggars! -- barbarious wars!) Then 'ere's to the Widow at Windsor, An' 'ere's to the stores an' the guns, The men an' the...

In the nineteenth century British prime ministers used their influence to create a series of nation states in the Middle East and elsewhere. The designated tribal leaders became heads of state through guile, extortion, favoritism and British planning. In most instances the British governments asked who was most capable of ushering in stability in areas congenitally chaotic and secondly, who was best prepared to act in behalf of British interests. In retrospect some of these decisions seem arbitrary, even foolhardy. These states often ignored tribal differences having been carved out of a geography only partially comprehended by British colonialists. The...

Onward Christian soldiers Forcing Balkan-born boys to fight for Allah parallels Sudan slavery Editor’s note: WorldNetDaily.com international correspondent Anthony C. LoBaido traveled to Cyprus, Turkey, Iraq and Kurdistan last year, researching stories on the Crusaders, Knights Templar, Noah’s Ark and the Kurds. In this report, LoBaido details the ancient account of the Janissaries, Christian boys living in the Balkans who were taken by the Ottoman sultans to be their elite guards. This account finds a modern-day parallel in the ongoing war in Sudan. By Anthony C. LoBaido © 2001 WorldNetDaily.com The Sudan government's current practice of forcing Christian boys into slavery...