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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Harvey Allen who wrote (128845)	4/9/2004 10:02:37 PM
From: Harvey Allen	Respond to of 281500

Straw stresses need for diplomacy Patrick Wintour, chief political correspondent Saturday April 10, 2004 The Guardian Jack Straw yesterday broke the government's prolonged silence over the growing anarchy in Iraq, urging coalition forces to hold back and emphasising the need to maintain a political, as well as military strategy. In sombre mood, the foreign secretary accepted the surge in violence was worse than he ever expected and represented the "most serious" threat to face the coalition since the war formally ended a year ago. But the tone of Mr Straw's remarks prompted speculation that he questioned the current military strategy. Interviewed on BBC Radio 4's The World at One programme, the foreign secretary admitted that he had not imagined the coalition's current severe difficulties a year ago. With some Labour MPs calling for an emergency recall of parliament, Mr Straw refused to second guess the US military tactics, saying: "If you invest people with the very heavy responsibility of taking military action and putting their men and women in harm's way, you also have to give them the discretion as to when or not to act." But he praised the now apparently aborted ceasefire at Falluja, saying: "The political aim in Falluja is to establish a ceasefire." There have been widespread reports that the British military and diplomats are pressing the US forces to show restraint in their operations in Iraq or risk losing the backing of the Iraqi governing council. "There is no doubt that the current situation is very serious and it is the most serious that we have faced," Mr Straw said. Tony Blair will travel to New York from his holiday in Bermuda for talks with Kofi Annan and probably the secretary general's special envoy in Iraq, Lakhdar Brahimi. Britain desperately wants a fresh UN security council resolution to give legitimacy to the interim authority. The move came amid reports that Washington has contacted Paris to request a French role in an international protection force for UN employees in Iraq. A French foreign ministry spokesman confirmed the approach but said yesterday that it was too early to respond. "The question of a possible UN reinvolvement in Iraq depends on a number of questions that are far from being resolved," the spokesman said. Britain fears that plans for a UN resolution by mid-May will be severely jeopardised by the uprising, the deepening fissures within the Shia community, and the fear that the US is losing political legitimacy in the eyes of Iraqi leaders. politics.guardian.co.uk

To: Harvey Allen who wrote (128845)	4/9/2004 10:13:26 PM
From: Sig	Respond to of 281500

Someone said (perhaps Yogi Berra) that if you come to a fork in the road, take it. We did and the road behind is now closed. Our strategy is fairly clear and contains at least the following elements- eliminate terrorists that threaten us,forbid the production of WMD's, and prevent nuclear proliferation if that is possible. Am not sure we have a defineable strategy for dealing with political aspects. Try for the least disruption of the good guys perhaps? But the war on terror will need new strategies, as we learn how they can hurt us in Iraq or Afghanistan or how they can disrupt our standing with friendly States. We have not lost Iraq yet, our combat casualties are 1/10 th the minimum number of 5k estimated by experts prior to the war. While going up against a well-armed and trained force of 400k and expecting the use of Wmd's and missiles which Saddam had and used on Kuwait.But he had poor aim our or Patriots finally worked. We need a strategy to push forward in the WOT, and a graceful retreat from Iraq has been in the cards all along. Leaving Iraq is still the plan. And when we do leave, whether this year or 20 years from now some will say, boy they sure whipped our butt, taught us a thing or too. Its only the 2nd inning in the WOT and the enemy score is zero attacks on the continent and they are losing players right and left. We even took away their farm team facility in Iraq. I dont make any predictions on Iraq, except to note that our strategy changes as required to stabilize the country for elections. And so today, it terrorists fire from a Mosque, they should prepare for incoming rounds. The old Iraq Minister of the Interior and head of police failed his job. The IGC now has a new Minister. In a war it is impossible to get a clear picture of progress being made on daily basis. Win a few, lose a few. Too many graphic news programs blocking the view. Sig Actually we have too many strategies to even debate the word. Every retired General has one. Every out-of-office politician has one. I suppose Kerry has one too.