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. . . . [the end of this article deals with the UK situation:]
September 11: that tragic catastrophe has provided the moral mandate at
home and the freedom for manoeuvre from allies for such a unilateralist
policy. For all the US has needed western support for its war, we seem to
have been singularly unsuccessful in extracting in return any compromises
on US unilateralism. Putin's protestations on NMD are brushed off, and
barely a murmur is raised in criticism of the US's failure to deliver its
climate change plan while the world went ahead in Marrakesh last week.
From the start, this administration has been unabashed, denying any sense of responsibility to anyone other than its own citizens. Now, everyone has the almighty headache of how they are to tiptoe round and placate this raging colossus. Blair, white with exhaustion, has opted for the role of chief cheerleader, and while it may incense some that Britain, like every other country, is reduced to such impotence, the harsh reality is that it was AOS - all options stink. Bush will use and discard Blair, and the British prime minister is likely to be one among many casualties.
The Labour party has traditionally been deeply split over the conduct of US foreign policy. Vietnam, Central and Latin America and the Iran-contra affair all provoked intense controversy. That was bad enough, but we were not involved in playing the supporting role. At the risk of further incensing my American correspondents, the manipulation of the CIA in Central America could come to seem like child's play compared with what we are likely to glimpse over the next decade.
More about the UK situation see Peace Letters to Tony Blair
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