Beware bellicose Bush, Mr Blair
His warmongering will not work
Special report: George Bush's
America
Sunday February 18, 2001
The Observer
America has just tested the limits of
international law, killing and injuring a
number of innocent civilians in a military
adventure of dubious purpose. It has been
assisted by another government, our own,
which should have a much better sense of
the dangerous ramifications of such an
exercise of force. However, raids such as
the bombing of Baghdad on Friday night
have been carried out routinely for the
past 10 years. What has changed is the
decision of President Bush and his
colleagues to court publicity for them. He
is sending an early signal about how
'tough' he intends to be on rogue states
like Iraq.
What this sea-change brings into sharp
focus is the futility of an Anglo-American
policy which has continued for a decade.
Military pressure and sanctions have left
Saddam Hussein more, rather than less,
powerful, while seriously undermining the
legitimacy of Western governments in the
Middle East. We risk an Arab payback for
what is seen as partisan highhandedness.
We need a better policy than bombing.
President BUSH sees it differently. He
appears to believe that the US is encircled
by danger that must be contested to the
last, hence the signal to Saddam. It is
part of a disturbingly unilateralist world
view that extends beyond defence. This
weekend, the new US Treasury Secretary,
Paul O'Neill, will tell fellow finance
ministers at the G7 meeting in Italy that
he is unconvinced of the merits of
intervention in financial crises, and of
economic co-ordination generally.
In these circumstances, Tony Blair should
treat Mr Bush's new administration with
great caution. He wants to prove himself
the loyal ally, winning the trust of the US
and upstaging our own hawkish
Conservative Party. But it is a dangerous
policy. Bombing Iraq is purposeless. The
new US National Missile Defence
System, to which we fear the Government
has already privately agreed, will be
dangerously destabilising. And
international response to financial crises
is an imperative to limit the contagion of
panic and financial losses.
This is not just The Observer 's view, but
the view of all European governments,
except our own. Mr Blair should now
make common cause with the rest of
Europe and assert his entitlement to
shape American policy rather than be
shaped by it.
guardian.co.uk |
