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 Re: to hell with tony Blair (Re: Mustafa Mahmoud)
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On the debit side, there is one overwhelming red figure - Iraq. Blair keeps insisting that history will give the verdict on Iraq, but we can already say this with confidence: Iraq is a disaster. To describe it as a case of liberal interventionism is the greatest disservice anyone could do to the cause of liberal interventionism. We went to war on a false prospectus about weapons of mass destruction and without proper authority, either legal or political. The failure to prepare for the likely consequences was a disgrace. It would be difficult for things to be worse than they were under Saddam Hussein, but they now are. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed or maimed, and there is no end in sight. US intelligence agencies say Iraq has become a breeding ground for a new generation of terrorists. The hundreds of billions of dollars squandered on the war and occupation could have bettered the lives of many of the world's poor.
Drawing away troops from Afghanistan when the job there was only half done, we have created two failures instead of one possible success. The Shia-Sunni rift has been inflamed across the Muslim world. The theocratic dictatorship of Iran has been greatly strengthened. The moral authority of the US is in tatters, and that of the United Kingdom dragged down with it. Iraq has alienated Muslims everywhere, including our own fellow citizens. Need I go on? This is the most comprehensive British foreign policy disaster since the Suez crisis of 1956.
Iraq also exposed the weakness of another strand of Blairite foreign policy - the attempt to influence American policy by working privately through the corridors of power in Washington, while avoiding all public disagreement. This is what I call the Jeeves school of diplomacy, and it has failed. Britain alone is no longer big enough to sway the hyperpower, especially if Washington thinks British support can always be taken for granted.
What the US needs is a friend big enough that Washington has to listen to him. That friend can only be a strong EU, speaking with a single voice. Here's the third key failing of Blair's foreign policy, one he himself almost identified when we spoke. To achieve that European voice requires the full commitment of Germany, France and Britain; but Britain's European policy is drastically constrained, if not actually dictated, by our Eurosceptic media. Blair saw the problem clearly, but he never dared to face down the unelected newspaper proprietors and editors on whom New Labour has depended so heavily.
The point of this balance sheet is not merely to write instant history, it's to learn from the failures as well as the successes. Three lessons emerge. First, never again must the flag of liberal interventionism be so abused. All the many peaceful forms of liberal intervention must first be exhausted. For the last resort of military action, we must have just cause based on facts, not fiction dressed up as secret intelligence, and proper legal, democratic and multilateral authority. And we must be prepared for the long haul afterwards. Second, only a strong Europe, speaking with one voice, can be the strategic partner that the US badly needs. Third, in order to get that strong Europe, the British prime minister must face down the unelected press barons who currently dictate Britain's European policy. So let Gordon Brown learn the right lessons from his neighbour's chequered history.
timothygartonash.com
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Mustafa Mahmoud
فيس بوك
تويتر
انستقرام
يوتيوب
بنتيريست