Menzies Campbell: Our foreign policy is just plain wrong

[cal04]

The relationship between Mr Bush and Mr Blair has done untold damage both at home and abroad

The ceasefire in Lebanon is holding, if only by a thread, which makes it all the more unacceptable that there was so much reluctance on the part of the British government to call for it from the outset. By procrastinating, the government found itself ranged against Kofi Annan, its own party and the majority of the British people.

While there was no ceasefire, many Lebanese and Israelis were killed or wounded. While there was no ceasefire, the infrastructure of Lebanon was obliterated, Hizbollah gained in stature and the Israeli government was weakened. Who would dare say that the Middle East is now a safer, more stable place than it was before the fighting began?

A ceasefire was not just the right thing to do - it was the only sensible thing to do. A ceasefire was rooted in principle and pragmatism. The government's failure to understand this was a major misjudgment, but we should not be surprised. It reflects, albeit in a lower key, the misjudgment of military action against Iraq. It springs from the Prime Minister's evangelical view of foreign policy.

Foreign affairs is a world of relative values; it is no place for evangelism, which elevates belief over knowledge, conviction over judgment and instinct over understanding. In the Middle East, knowledge, judgment and understanding are more useful allies than belief, conviction and instinct, particularly when all three are wrong.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1854244,00.html

[Dudley_DUright]

1. Not just in the middle east I dare say

"In the Middle East, knowledge, judgment and understanding are more useful allies than belief, conviction and instinct, particularly when all three are wrong."

Of course, if Bush had half a brain, he might be able to respond with something other than his ever fallible "gut".

[Greeby]

2. The last paragraph

"Over one issue in particular, effort must be made - Israel/Palestine. As the Lebanese government was being chastised for its failure to implement Security Council Resolution 1559, calling for the disarmament of Hizbollah, little was said about Resolution 242, calling for Israel's withdrawal from territories it had occupied in 1967. As long as the Palestinians are subject to daily humiliations and settlements are expanded on the West Bank, all in breach of international law, and denied a viable homeland, Israel's legal and moral right to live in peace behind secure and recognised borders will be undermined. Israel/Palestine should become not a cause but an obsession. If it redefines our relationship with the United States, so be it."

And the mantra from the MSM has been "The Liberal Democrats don't stand for anything" :eyes: