Editor,

RE: Editorial, Human lives should not be sacrificed in the name of selfish interests (The New Times, December 6).

In Syria, as in all the other conflict areas in which the major powers are involved, pay absolutely no heed to what their diplomats, their statesmen and the media are telling you. If there is any element of truth in what is happening there, who is playing what role and for what purpose, it is so infinitesimal and buried in so much spin that it is impossible to disentangle fact from fiction.

Meantime, what they are all doing and the inevitable blowback (which the world will be encouraged – no, browbeaten – into separating from its causes) remind me of a day during my childhood, tending to my family’s calves in the pasture. In the tall grass close to where the calves were placidly grazing, bees had built a hive. Tending calves and watching them munch grass is not a very challenging assignment for an 11 year-old kid, and becoming increasingly bored, I started throwing sticks at the hive. Soon the angry bees were swarming out attacking anything within range. The calves stampeded away in panic; after a few stings, I tried to hide in the tall grass but it didn’t help. I was stung all over my body and was forced to flee for my very life, not stopping until I was at least a mile away and safely out of range of the angry bees determined to punish their tormentor. My face was tumefied (I could hardly see for some days because of the swelling around the eyes) and my body was so sensitive I couldn’t sleep for some days even as I had high temperature. Fortunately I survived and learnt my lesson; I have a healthy respect for bees and have never ever again disturbed their hives.

It seems this is a lesson those who persist in wanting to disturb Middle Eastern hives have yet to learn, despite so many episodes of blowback. And with every blowback we are in essence told: "We were just standing there as innocent as little lambs minding our own business disturbing no one when these mad bearded Muslims kind of erupted on the scene and attacked us, absolutely for no reason other than that they hate our freedom and way of life!” That, in a nutshell, is what Western politicians, diplomats and their media would have us believe. Are they absolutely sure they have not, even a tiny weeny bit, been disturbing the hives from which the attacking bees are swarming?

Mwene Kalinda