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July 21, 2006
An abusive relationship
It is more apparent than ever that the so-called special relationship between Britain and the US is becoming progressively more degenerate. Tony Blair has been at the beck-and-call of George Bush for so long that his behaviour seems more that of an abused wife than an ally and respected international partner. This can be the only reason that, after so many put downs, after being spurned and rejected, Blair continues to pander to Bush's dictats. Even the humiliation of the open mike transcript has done nothing to bring Blair to his senses and British foreign policy to a coherent and humanitarian position on the Lebanon.
The Guardian
Mr Browne, however, defended the government's refusal to back the UN ceasefire call.
The defence secretary said: "We need to provide a durable ceasefire that will allow the international community's own resolutions to apply.
"There is, on one view, a very simple solution to this and that is that Hezbollah could in the immediate crisis hand over prisoners and stop sending their missiles into Israeli territory.
"In practical terms, it is almost impossible to envisage a set of circumstances where the Israeli action will stop while these missiles continue to rain down upon their territory."
Notice the total lack of balance there? The reason the UK is not calling for a ceasefire is because Israel won't stop attacking unless Hezbollah stops first. The fact that Hezbollah won't stop until Israel stops shelling and bombing gets in the way of supporting the US position. The whole purpose of a ceasefire is that all combatants cease firing at the same time. What the UK and US governments want is not a ceasefire, but rather a compete and unconditional surrender by Hezbollah, but rather than be open and honest about it instead the UK government insists on such nonsensical statements as that above.
And the Foreign Office, or at least the Foreign glove puppet Secretary, keeps up the duplicity.
BBC - Minister urged to condemn Israel
Margaret Beckett repeatedly rejected calls by MPs on all sides to condemn Israel's actions in the Lebanon.
The foreign secretary said she had condemned Hezbollah but bowing to MPs' demands on criticising Israel was not the most effective policy.
I guess criticising Israel is not very effective when your objective is to have Israeli forces put the boot in to their neighbours, further destabilising an already shaky region in an effort to extend US influence. Clare Short hit the nail smack on the head:
More Lebanese people were being killed than Israelis, argued Ms Short, but "the way we talk it sounds as though we are saying an Arab life is not as important as an Israeli life and that is profoundly wrong".
It may be profoundly wrong, but that is Washington's attitude, witness Guantanamo, Abu Graib, Haidifa to name but three. And it would appear to be the stance adopted by an increasingly confused Blair.
The Guardian - Blair dismisses ceasefire call
The spokesman said: "The Prime Minister has made it clear right from the beginning that he wants the conflict to end. What, however, people appear to want him to do is to call for a unilateral ceasefire."
"But this is not going to end so long as Hezbollah is firing rockets into Israel, so long as soldiers are kidnapped and not released."
Mr Blair's spokesman warned: "You are not going to get a sustainable peace if you only concentrate on the one side. A unilateral ceasefire isn't actually going to deliver a long term peace."
Yet a unilateral ceasefire is exactly what Bush and Blair are calling for, that Hizbollah should capitulate without any conditions. And the focus of London and Washington remains solely on Hizbollah's actions without any real and substantive critique of the Israelis.
Eventually it is to be hoped that Britain can escape this abusive relationship, that our leaders will be replaced by people with a sense of moral justice, humanity and conscience. Until then we can only raise our voices in protest while our nation becomes more and more isolated.
Posted by Clive on July 21, 2006 1:07 PM in the category