[Vision2020] How the Brits see it! From the Observer
Dick Schmidt
dickschmidt@moscow.com
Mon, 10 May 2004 13:11:08 -0700
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All,
It is interesting to get a perspective from our friends from across the =
pond. How about the statement ....."fewer people were being tortured by =
the Americans than under Saddam."=20
Dick Schmidt
We stand in the dock with America=20
Henry Porter says it is not just individual soldiers who are at fault - =
the politicians are to blame too=20
Sunday May 9, 2004
The Observer=20
As he looked up at the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee - =
a veritable Mount Rushmore of experience and forbidding cragginess - and =
as Senators Warner, Kennedy, McCain, Byrd and Levin took turns to =
examine Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, you felt something of =
the old republic's basic decency beginning to reassert itself: a glimmer =
of light in what has been a historically disastrous week for America, =
the values of the West and British international standing.=20
For Bush, who was pressed by his staffers into an apology only on =
Thursday - a week after the torture story broke - and for his =
none-too-impressive National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice, =
Rumsfeld's humiliation offered some respite. Crouching against the =
dugout wall, mopping their brows and ruefully thanking their temporary =
good fortune were members of the inner core of Tony Blair's government. =
They live to squirm another day, though sadly that will not be in front =
of the US Senate in a towering rage.=20
It is right that the shock delivered by the photographs from Abu Ghraib =
prison should have been mostly felt on the other side of the Atlantic. =
The perpetrators of these acts were American and the product of the =
peculiar alarm and righteousness affecting US society at the moment.=20
But we must share responsibility for the unravelling situation in Iraq. =
Militarily we are America's junior partner, but in terms of the moral =
burden we are its equal. We provided the only significant support for =
the war and were in a position to insist on certain safeguards and =
standards of conduct. So we can be sure that the fire will be trained on =
Britain soon, particularly if, as seems likely, it is established that =
some of our troops have been abusing Iraqi prisoners of war.=20
The evidence from Abu Ghraib has provoked cold fury on both sides of the =
debate about the war. Those who supported the war on the grounds that it =
would bring relief and democracy to the Iraqis are appalled that they =
have been so betrayed. And the millions who were opposed to the invasion =
feel their pessimism has been more than vindicated by the brutality on =
show in the papers last week.=20
We no longer have to argue the toss about weapons of mass destruction or =
whether it was possible to install a democracy in Iraq because the only =
live issue is whether Iraq is being run humanely and efficiently. On the =
evidence of Major-General Taguba's report into Abu Ghraib we can all =
agree that it is not. More important, it must be plain to us all that =
there never was a coherent plan for the physical and institutional =
restructuring of Iraq, at least none that has been evident in the last =
year, and any hope of mustering some sense in the situation has been =
overwhelmed by the Pentagon's arrogance, incompetence, careless =
brutality and inability to learn from its mistakes.=20
That's why Donald Rumsfeld must resign and why the neo-conservatives =
should be kept away from any further role in the planning of Iraq's =
future.=20
Less obviously, it is also the reason that Tony Blair is in such =
trouble. In the run-up to the invasion, the Prime Minister was probably =
the only person outside America able to insist that a plan covering =
everything from the water supply to the handling of Shia extremists and =
the running of the prison system was pinned up on the wall along with =
the bombing schedules.=20
This he conspicuously failed to do. He neglected his duty to the peace =
and failed to monitor and mould our involvement with the US government =
and its forces. British interests - our voice, our standing in the =
world, our ability to approach the conference table with a clear =
conscience - have been severely damaged by association, and will suffer =
even more if the allegations made by the Daily Mirror turn out to be =
true.=20
In America, the way this story has built over the past 10 days will have =
lasting effects on morale and the country's willingness to engage with =
the world to the world's benefit. The shock is probably salutary. Since =
9/11 the US has been generating some very unpleasant energies. This can =
be seen in such disparate developments as Disney's attempt to block =
Michael Moore's film Fahrenheit 9/11 (because it was critical of Bush's =
relationship with powerful Saudi families) and in the hysterical =
treatment of tourists passing through US immigration which has become =
inexplicably rude and vindictive towards those who simply want to see =
the sights in New York, LA and Florida.=20
Americans seem unaware of what they have been losing. Last week, before =
the full impact of Abu Ghraib had been felt, there was a story in the =
New York Times about two of the post-9/11 detainees. Javaid Iqbal, a =
Pakistani who was married and American, and an Egyptian resident named =
Ehab Elmaghraby were both arrested without charges and held in solitary =
confinement in a federal detention centre.=20
I quote from Nina Bernstein's story about their lawsuit: 'The men were =
repeatedly slammed into walls and dragged across the floor while =
shackled and manacled, kicked and punched until they bled, cursed as =
"terrorists" and "Muslim bastards" and subjected to multiple unnecessary =
body-cavity searches, including one during which correction officers =
inserted a flashlight in Mr Elmaghraby's rectum, making him bleed.'=20
Sounds familiar? Yes, but this was Brooklyn not Abu Ghraib, and the =
story, which received very little attention at the beginning of last =
week, should lead Americans to wonder if there is not something rotten =
beginning to take hold at the heart of their state.=20
Some bad habits of mind have been growing in the US, and not just since =
9/11. My own belief is that the media, with a few exceptions, are too =
respectful of authority and too careful with their audience. Patriotism =
takes precedence; and nothing must be allowed to ruffle the equable life =
of the average American, his esteem for himself and his country.=20
Still, the reaction to the Abu Ghraib photographs has been encouraging =
and it was good to see three or four young people interrupt the Rumsfeld =
hearing with shouts for his resignation. They expressed the voice of =
America every inch as much as the cold anger of Senator John McCain. =
Decency, one hopes, will prevail at the end of the brief night of =
neo-conservatism.=20
We in Britain should also look with an unsparing eye at our motives and =
the ideas that inform our dealings with world. The government was wrong =
about the threat that Iraq posed and, as important, wrong about what =
could be achieved by an almost exclusive Anglo-American invasion. The =
torture pictures have become a powerful symbol of the mistakes we have =
made.=20
It would be interesting to know whether this has completely penetrated =
the consciousness of Blair's government. The group-think at Number 10 is =
focused on democratic riches to be claimed five years down the line, a =
vision which soars over the temporary agonies of Falluja and Abu Ghraib =
and implies that the Prime Minister cannot be properly judged to have =
succeeded or failed until we know one way or the other whether the =
democratic implant has taken.=20
In the current circumstances, this is an astonishingly bold, not to say =
unresponsive, strategy.=20
But it was not just Tony Blair who failed us. Under the leadership of =
Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative Party mistook the neo-cons in the =
Pentagon as kindred spirits when it should instinctively have known that =
men like Rumsfeld, Cheney and Wolfowitz were peddling heroin rather than =
antibiotics. As the late political philosopher Michael Oakeshott said: =
'The man of conservative temperament believes that a known good is not =
lightly to be surrendered for an unknown better ... What others =
plausibly identify as timidity, he recognises in himself as rational =
prudence.'=20
Kenneth Clarke understood that and the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs =
spokesman, Menzies Campbell, the most articulate critic of the war on =
the opposition benches, recognised the risks from the word go.=20
The Conservatives' compass was thrown just as badly by the neo-cons as =
Blair's was. Their doubts, however, are beginning to show. Last week =
Boris Johnson wrote a despairing column in the Daily Telegraph in which =
he almost recanted his party's policy, but pulled up at the last with =
the argument that fewer people were being tortured by the Americans than =
under Saddam. That seemed to me to be almost satirical self-sabotage.=20
But does he have a point? Well, there are areas of peace and stability =
in Iraq, generally people are freer than they were under Saddam and, =
despite Abu Ghraib, we all know that the very large majority of British =
and American troops are decent people doing their level best in =
conditions that get worse by the day.=20
At the end of this harrowing week, we should not make the mistake of =
turning our shocked reaction on to the armed services. It is the =
politicians who must carry the can, not Lynndie England or the as yet =
unidentified men from the Queen's Lancashire Regiment.=20
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<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>All,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>It is interesting to get a perspective =
from our=20
friends from across the pond. How about the statement ....."fewer people =
were=20
being tortured by the Americans than under Saddam." </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Dick Schmidt</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=3DArial size=3D5></FONT></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=3DArial size=3D5></FONT></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=3DArial size=3D5>We stand in the dock with=20
America</FONT></STRONG> <BR><BR><FONT face=3Darial,helvetica,sans-serif=20
size=3D3>Henry Porter says it is not just individual soldiers who are at =
fault -=20
the politicians are to blame too</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT=20
face=3DGeneva,Arial,sans-serif size=3D2><B>Sunday May 9, 2004<BR><A=20
href=3D"http://www.observer.co.uk/"><FONT color=3D#003366>The=20
Observer</FONT></A></B> <BR><BR></FONT><FONT =
face=3DGeneva,Arial,sans-serif=20
size=3D2>As he looked up at the members of the Senate Armed Services =
Committee - a=20
veritable Mount Rushmore of experience and forbidding cragginess - and =
as=20
Senators Warner, Kennedy, McCain, Byrd and Levin took turns to examine =
Donald=20
Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, you felt something of the old =
republic's=20
basic decency beginning to reassert itself: a glimmer of light in what =
has been=20
a historically disastrous week for America, the values of the West and =
British=20
international standing. </DIV>
<P>For Bush, who was pressed by his staffers into an apology only on =
Thursday -=20
a week after the torture story broke - and for his none-too-impressive =
National=20
Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice, Rumsfeld's humiliation offered some =
respite.=20
Crouching against the dugout wall, mopping their brows and ruefully =
thanking=20
their temporary good fortune were members of the inner core of Tony =
Blair's=20
government. They live to squirm another day, though sadly that will not =
be in=20
front of the US Senate in a towering rage.=20
<P>It is right that the shock delivered by the photographs from Abu =
Ghraib=20
prison should have been mostly felt on the other side of the Atlantic. =
The=20
perpetrators of these acts were American and the product of the peculiar =
alarm=20
and righteousness affecting US society at the moment.=20
<P>But we must share responsibility for the unravelling situation in =
Iraq.=20
Militarily we are America's junior partner, but in terms of the moral =
burden we=20
are its equal. We provided the only significant support for the war and =
were in=20
a position to insist on certain safeguards and standards of conduct. So =
we can=20
be sure that the fire will be trained on Britain soon, particularly if, =
as seems=20
likely, it is established that some of our troops have been abusing =
Iraqi=20
prisoners of war.=20
<P>The evidence from Abu Ghraib has provoked cold fury on both sides of =
the=20
debate about the war. Those who supported the war on the grounds that it =
would=20
bring relief and democracy to the Iraqis are appalled that they have =
been so=20
betrayed. And the millions who were opposed to the invasion feel their =
pessimism=20
has been more than vindicated by the brutality on show in the papers =
last week.=20
<P>We no longer have to argue the toss about weapons of mass destruction =
or=20
whether it was possible to install a democracy in Iraq because the only =
live=20
issue is whether Iraq is being run humanely and efficiently. On the =
evidence of=20
Major-General Taguba's report into Abu Ghraib we can all agree that it =
is not.=20
More important, it must be plain to us all that there never was a =
coherent plan=20
for the physical and institutional restructuring of Iraq, at least none =
that has=20
been evident in the last year, and any hope of mustering some sense in =
the=20
situation has been overwhelmed by the Pentagon's arrogance, =
incompetence,=20
careless brutality and inability to learn from its mistakes.=20
<P>That's why Donald Rumsfeld must resign and why the neo-conservatives =
should=20
be kept away from any further role in the planning of Iraq's future. =
</P>
<DIV id=3DOvertureDivHolder>
<DIV id=3DOvertureDiv></DIV></DIV>
<P>Less obviously, it is also the reason that Tony Blair is in such =
trouble. In=20
the run-up to the invasion, the Prime Minister was probably the only =
person=20
outside America able to insist that a plan covering everything from the =
water=20
supply to the handling of Shia extremists and the running of the prison =
system=20
was pinned up on the wall along with the bombing schedules.=20
<P>This he conspicuously failed to do. He neglected his duty to the =
peace and=20
failed to monitor and mould our involvement with the US government and =
its=20
forces. British interests - our voice, our standing in the world, our =
ability to=20
approach the conference table with a clear conscience - have been =
severely=20
damaged by association, and will suffer even more if the allegations =
made by the=20
Daily Mirror turn out to be true.=20
<P>In America, the way this story has built over the past 10 days will =
have=20
lasting effects on morale and the country's willingness to engage with =
the world=20
to the world's benefit. The shock is probably salutary. Since 9/11 the =
US has=20
been generating some very unpleasant energies. This can be seen in such=20
disparate developments as Disney's attempt to block Michael Moore's film =
Fahrenheit 9/11 (because it was critical of Bush's relationship with =
powerful=20
Saudi families) and in the hysterical treatment of tourists passing =
through US=20
immigration which has become inexplicably rude and vindictive towards =
those who=20
simply want to see the sights in New York, LA and Florida.=20
<P>Americans seem unaware of what they have been losing. Last week, =
before the=20
full impact of Abu Ghraib had been felt, there was a story in the New =
York Times=20
about two of the post-9/11 detainees. Javaid Iqbal, a Pakistani who was =
married=20
and American, and an Egyptian resident named Ehab Elmaghraby were both =
arrested=20
without charges and held in solitary confinement in a federal detention =
centre.=20
<P>I quote from Nina Bernstein's story about their lawsuit: 'The men =
were=20
repeatedly slammed into walls and dragged across the floor while =
shackled and=20
manacled, kicked and punched until they bled, cursed as "terrorists" and =
"Muslim=20
bastards" and subjected to multiple unnecessary body-cavity searches, =
including=20
one during which correction officers inserted a flashlight in Mr =
Elmaghraby's=20
rectum, making him bleed.'=20
<P>Sounds familiar? Yes, but this was Brooklyn not Abu Ghraib, and the =
story,=20
which received very little attention at the beginning of last week, =
should lead=20
Americans to wonder if there is not something rotten beginning to take =
hold at=20
the heart of their state.=20
<P>Some bad habits of mind have been growing in the US, and not just =
since 9/11.=20
My own belief is that the media, with a few exceptions, are too =
respectful of=20
authority and too careful with their audience. Patriotism takes =
precedence; and=20
nothing must be allowed to ruffle the equable life of the average =
American, his=20
esteem for himself and his country.=20
<P>Still, the reaction to the Abu Ghraib photographs has been =
encouraging and it=20
was good to see three or four young people interrupt the Rumsfeld =
hearing with=20
shouts for his resignation. They expressed the voice of America every =
inch as=20
much as the cold anger of Senator John McCain. Decency, one hopes, will =
prevail=20
at the end of the brief night of neo-conservatism.=20
<P>We in Britain should also look with an unsparing eye at our motives =
and the=20
ideas that inform our dealings with world. The government was wrong =
about the=20
threat that Iraq posed and, as important, wrong about what could be =
achieved by=20
an almost exclusive Anglo-American invasion. The torture pictures have =
become a=20
powerful symbol of the mistakes we have made.=20
<P>It would be interesting to know whether this has completely =
penetrated the=20
consciousness of Blair's government. The group-think at Number 10 is =
focused on=20
democratic riches to be claimed five years down the line, a vision which =
soars=20
over the temporary agonies of Falluja and Abu Ghraib and implies that =
the Prime=20
Minister cannot be properly judged to have succeeded or failed until we =
know one=20
way or the other whether the democratic implant has taken.=20
<P>In the current circumstances, this is an astonishingly bold, not to =
say=20
unresponsive, strategy.=20
<P>But it was not just Tony Blair who failed us. Under the leadership of =
Iain=20
Duncan Smith, the Conservative Party mistook the neo-cons in the =
Pentagon as=20
kindred spirits when it should instinctively have known that men like =
Rumsfeld,=20
Cheney and Wolfowitz were peddling heroin rather than antibiotics. As =
the late=20
political philosopher Michael Oakeshott said: 'The man of conservative=20
temperament believes that a known good is not lightly to be surrendered =
for an=20
unknown better ... What others plausibly identify as timidity, he =
recognises in=20
himself as rational prudence.'=20
<P>Kenneth Clarke understood that and the Liberal Democrat foreign =
affairs=20
spokesman, Menzies Campbell, the most articulate critic of the war on =
the=20
opposition benches, recognised the risks from the word go.=20
<P>The Conservatives' compass was thrown just as badly by the neo-cons =
as=20
Blair's was. Their doubts, however, are beginning to show. Last week =
Boris=20
Johnson wrote a despairing column in the Daily Telegraph in which he =
almost=20
recanted his party's policy, but pulled up at the last with the argument =
that=20
fewer people were being tortured by the Americans than under Saddam. =
That seemed=20
to me to be almost satirical self-sabotage.=20
<P>But does he have a point? Well, there are areas of peace and =
stability in=20
Iraq, generally people are freer than they were under Saddam and, =
despite Abu=20
Ghraib, we all know that the very large majority of British and American =
troops=20
are decent people doing their level best in conditions that get worse by =
the=20
day.=20
<P>At the end of this harrowing week, we should not make the mistake of =
turning=20
our shocked reaction on to the armed services. It is the politicians who =
must=20
carry the can, not Lynndie England or the as yet unidentified men from =
the=20
Queen's Lancashire Regiment. </FONT><BR></P></BODY></HTML>
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