Tony Blair’s legacy will forever be his decision to take orders from President Bush, invading Afghanistan and Iraq, supporting Israel in its oppression of the Palestinians and its attack on the Lebanon, combined with threats against Iran for its desire to develop nuclear power.
As a direct result, hundreds of thousands of innocent people have died, mainly civilians including many women and children. Their memory will remain and feed hatred amongst the people of the Middle East and Muslims across the world that could poison the prospects for peace for years to come.
In this country the memory of the lies told to get us into the war, the secret negotiations that took place in Washington beforehand, the erosion of civil liberties and the Islamophobia whipped up to justify what was being done, will also make things hard in many communities. The discrediting of New Labour could affect the outcome of the next election.
All this has to be understood if we are to make sense of the decisions that are now needed to extricate ourselves from wars that were illegal, immoral and are all unwinnable — facts that are becoming as clear to the US voters as they are to our own electors here.
Although the United Nations has many defects and needs reform, it remains our best hope for a world of peace at a time when chemical, nuclear and biological weapons are spreading and could endanger the human race, and our obligations to the Charter must remain central in our foreign policy. Our strategy must be to plan for a complete withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan, whatever policy is adopted by the White House, knowing that even Bush could not remain there without our support. This withdrawal will take some time given the number of troops and bases that will have to be evacuated.
The US’ retention of permanent bases — which is what Bush wants — is simply not acceptable and Britain should insist on complete withdrawal. It is here that the UN could have some part to play. If a multinational force made up of soldiers from the Muslim world was necessary, that could best be negotiated through the UN itself and the funding should come from those countries that did the damage, by way of compensation.
Threats by the US or Israel to attack Iran must be stopped. Such an escalation of violence could trigger a world war, and the hypocrisy of Israel with its own massive armoury of nuclear weapons taking part in such an operation beggars belief. Indeed the central problem in the Middle East is Israel, and the treatment of the Palestinians, with the encroachment of illegal settlements in the West Bank, the denial of rights to the Palestinian refugees to return and the occupation of east Jerusalem. These, combined with the erection of an illegal wall, are major factors in the destabilisation of the region. There will never be peace until Israel withdraws to its internationally agreed borders, restoring the West Bank and East Jerusalem to the Palestinians, the Golan Heights to Syria and the She’ba Farms to the Lebanon, and, were it feasible, to absorb both Israel and Iran into a nuclear-free zone.
To tackle these issues in a new way will not be easy, but a start must be made at once by indicating clearly and publicly that our future policy will be based upon these ideas, combined by an international campaign to win support which would also attract a lot — maybe a majority — of Americans who are sick of seeing their soldiers coming home in coffins or desperately wounded. But such a policy would inevitably involve a major breach with President Bush and there would be consequences for any government that dared to do at — not least that Britain is dependent on US technology for the Trident programme.
If we alienated the White House, we might expect that that support would be withdrawn, which for many inside and outside, the Labour Party would be welcome news.
These are some of the reasons why Iraq and the Middle East must be near the very top of the political agenda as the new prime minister takes office, forms his government and presents himself to the public seeking support now and in the general election due in two years’ time.
Tony Blair’s legacy will forever be his decision to take orders from President Bush, invading Afghanistan and Iraq, supporting Israel in its oppression of the Palestinians and its attack on the Lebanon, combined with threats against Iran for its desire to develop nuclear power.
As a direct result, hundreds of thousands of innocent people have died, mainly civilians including many women and children. Their memory will remain and feed hatred amongst the people of the Middle East and Muslims across the world that could poison the prospects for peace for years to come.
In this country the memory of the lies told to get us into the war, the secret negotiations that took place in Washington beforehand, the erosion of civil liberties and the Islamophobia whipped up to justify what was being done, will also make things hard in many communities. The discrediting of New Labour could affect the outcome of the next election.
All this has to be understood if we are to make sense of the decisions that are now needed to extricate ourselves from wars that were illegal, immoral and are all unwinnable — facts that are becoming as clear to the US voters as they are to our own electors here.
Although the United Nations has many defects and needs reform, it remains our best hope for a world of peace at a time when chemical, nuclear and biological weapons are spreading and could endanger the human race, and our obligations to the Charter must remain central in our foreign policy. Our strategy must be to plan for a complete withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan, whatever policy is adopted by the White House, knowing that even Bush could not remain there without our support. This withdrawal will take some time given the number of troops and bases that will have to be evacuated.
The US’ retention of permanent bases — which is what Bush wants — is simply not acceptable and Britain should insist on complete withdrawal. It is here that the UN could have some part to play. If a multinational force made up of soldiers from the Muslim world was necessary, that could best be negotiated through the UN itself and the funding should come from those countries that did the damage, by way of compensation.
Threats by the US or Israel to attack Iran must be stopped. Such an escalation of violence could trigger a world war, and the hypocrisy of Israel with its own massive armoury of nuclear weapons taking part in such an operation beggars belief. Indeed the central problem in the Middle East is Israel, and the treatment of the Palestinians, with the encroachment of illegal settlements in the West Bank, the denial of rights to the Palestinian refugees to return and the occupation of east Jerusalem. These, combined with the erection of an illegal wall, are major factors in the destabilisation of the region. There will never be peace until Israel withdraws to its internationally agreed borders, restoring the West Bank and East Jerusalem to the Palestinians, the Golan Heights to Syria and the She’ba Farms to the Lebanon, and, were it feasible, to absorb both Israel and Iran into a nuclear-free zone.
To tackle these issues in a new way will not be easy, but a start must be made at once by indicating clearly and publicly that our future policy will be based upon these ideas, combined by an international campaign to win support which would also attract a lot — maybe a majority — of Americans who are sick of seeing their soldiers coming home in coffins or desperately wounded. But such a policy would inevitably involve a major breach with President Bush and there would be consequences for any government that dared to do at — not least that Britain is dependent on US technology for the Trident programme.
If we alienated the White House, we might expect that that support would be withdrawn, which for many inside and outside, the Labour Party would be welcome news.
These are some of the reasons why Iraq and the Middle East must be near the very top of the political agenda as the new prime minister takes office, forms his government and presents himself to the public seeking support now and in the general election due in two years’ time.