Swirling out of control? US Foreign Policy.
Entering the first month of the year and already two major disasters have hit very close to home. Although I do not know anyone that has died in either Haiti or the Ethiopian airline crash it appears many of my friends did. When disaster strikes nearby it always of course makes it more real. I just cannot image what living in Baghdad is like as yet another bomb explodes and kills 18 people. Disaster continues day in and day out. When will it stop?
Foreign policy by Britain and the US is still mired in confusion, bias and prejudice. It is plain to see that the policy towards the Middle East is fundamentally flawed yet it continues unchanged year after year, disaster after disaster. No it’s not just America’s fault but Administrations come and go; US and British foreign policy in the region stays the same. Who would support US and Britain’s foreign policy in the region at the moment, except for expansionist Zionists and the evangelical right? If you are out there please step forward, would love to hear from you. No really. I want to “get it”.
My previous pessimism regarding Obama and the Middle East strategy is only confirmed by people like Stephan Walt calling for Obama’s Mid East envoy Mitchell to resign:
If Mideast special envoy George Mitchell wants to end his career with his reputation intact, it is time for him to resign.
Walt is very clear and insightful (as usual) as to where it has all gone wrong:
Which advisors told Obama and Mitchell to proceed as they did, raising expectations sky-high in the Cairo speech, publicly insisting on a settlement freeze, and then engaging in a humiliating retreat? Did they ever ask themselves what they would do if Netanyahu dug in his heels, as anyone with a triple-digit IQ should have expected? And if Obama now realizes how badly they screwed up, why do the people who recommended this approach still have their jobs?
…
The objective was admirably clear from the start — “two states for two peoples” — what was missing was a clear strategy for getting there and the political will to push it through.
Clear thinking…if only. Who has a clue what Obama or Brown’s foreign policy strategy is. I can only see policies that are unplanned, reactionary and weak. That will in the end lead to a tide of unplanned decisions creating a whirlpool of disaster.
In Britain at the moment the argument continues as to wether the Iraq war was legal or not. Security council resolution 1441 that passed unanimously by the security council is at the centre of the debate. Did it allow a pre-emptive strike or not? I am not a lawyer but I wonder how much does it matter if it was legal or not. What really matters is why such an obviously disasters occupation was allowed to go ahead regardless of the legal implications. Why is there not a foreign policy enquiry being carried out that analysis why Britain, and the US as well, has continually screwed up and misunderstood this region. The reason of course is that they don’t want to upset the people they support in the region that keep the oil flowing. But there is another way.
I do believe the West can have oil without creating the kind of misguided policies that are in existence today. I don’t believe in a utopia where everyone will be getting along fine after decades of conflict. But the support of the kind of brutal regimes and equally brutal capitalistic models that we would never accept in our own societies does not have to occur. Why are we not looking seriously at ways to create more sensible foreign policies towards Saudi, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and of course Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Israel-Palestine?
Instead the Chilcot inquiry is chugging along, deepening everyones pessimism about the democratic system and foreign policy. There are few sane Kantians left now.
There are some great websites that are painstakingly following the events of the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq invasion. And there are even people out there supporting Tony Blair who is due to give his testament soon. This blog that is passionatley for Blair and his invasion makes your stomach turn, here are some wonderful quotes from the blog to get your blood boiling:
THE NUMBER OF DEAD IS NO REASON TO DECRY THE INVASION
The last one makes me want to hit my head on my desk several times. Instead I think of Ghandi and breath:
What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?
Bin Laden is back with a new tape. Surprised?
So are commentators calling for an invasion of Iran, worryingly by people who should know better. Surprised?
Everyone is predicting a Hezbollah-Israeli war, which will be the war to end all wars. Surprised?
If there was a firm US policy that matches action with words and is more responsive to the justifiable grievances of the region, I personally believe that Bin Laden would be reduced, Hezbollah-Israel tension would be reduced and those calling for war would be marginalised. Instead all three remain on the front line.
Urban Arrangements 
Thanks for your mention of my blog. I think! But it might have been fairer if you had not taken that phrase out of context. Here’s the rest, in case you’re interested:
‘The Iraq decisions HAVE been made, like them or not.
THE REALITY? THE NUMBER OF DEAD IS NO REASON TO DECRY THE INVASION
I often wonder WHY the traducers of Blair, Campbell and the rest don’t admit what is their REAL intention. Would they be pursuing Blair and his government if no-one had been killed in Iraq? No, is the answer you are looking for. And yet the reasons for the invasion would have still been illegal/immoral in their terms, if their terms had any genuine basis. The deaths that resulted from the insurgents continuing to fight against the people of Iraq AND the wishes of the people of Iraq is NO reason to damn western democratic leaders to perpetual criticism and shaming.’
When Blair got advice from the academic world, especially Tripp and Dodge both highly respected specialists on Iraq, Blair was warned what would happen. And it did.
If it had been a wonderful success my argument would be harder to make and I would have to do some hard thinking. But no it was a disaster and so I find it difficult to understand why those that supported the war cannot accept that it was a major major mistake.
The insurgents would not be fighting if it was not for the the invasion. Blair and Bush take full responsibility for every death as soon as they took over the security apparatus of the country.
Pingback: Is Obama’s Foreign Policy different from Bush’s? « Al-Bayt Baytak