From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng  (Original Message)    Sent: 4/17/2006 8:05 AM
Dukes of Moral Hazard?
17.04.06 Monday
By Robert Bridge The Moscow News
With Gerhard Schroder and Silvio Berlusconi off the political stage, will Russia be isolated in the G8?
 
The Occidental Superpower

The Project for the New American Century got off to an ominous start with the election of George W. Bush in 2000. "Election" is the wrong word, of course, since it is already ancient history that Bush was selected over the democrat Al Gore through the good graces of a republican-leaning Supreme Court decision. This is more a criticism of the US electoral process than George Bush per se. However, an increasing number of commentators fear that the republican strategy for dealing with the globe's problems is only exasperating them.

In the wake of 9/11, Bush declared the spread of democracy and freedom, not to mention the eradication of evil, as the cornerstone of his foreign policy agenda.

"It is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world," Bush warned evil-doers during his second inaugural address.

This is victor's conceit, national hubris and pure stupidity wrapped into one dangerous ideology which no modern state has the clout to challenge. US foreign policy has been replaced by foreign fallacy.

Bush is advocating a wild-goose hunt around the globe to search and destroy the manifestations of "tyranny" and "evil." And it will be the American hunting party who gets to play jury, judge and executioner against the accused, as well as decide what constitutes naughty behavior.

Meanwhile, and with no loss of contradiction, the defender of moral righteousness places itself above international law by trashing the Geneva Convention and locking up foreign prisoners on foreign land (Welcome to Guantanamo Bay!) where the detainees are denied legal counsel. This is just one example, and there is no need to squint longer at the Kodak Moment's album from Abu Ghraib. Whatever objections the European Union once had about America's unilateral hardball - notably, its volte-face on the Kyoto Protocol, ABM Treaty, International Criminal Court, and finally, the decision to invade Iraq without the consensus of the UN Security Council - have faded away. Washington understands that Brussels will never risk a divorce in the transatlantic relationship.

The Blair Bush Project

America would never have had the ability to stumble this far without the active cooperation of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Blair, a bit of a lame duck PM since he admitted 18 months ago that he would resign before the next elections, gave the battle of Iraq the refined articulation that Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld lacked.

However, articulation means nothing if not supported by solid evidence - in this case, weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which of course were never found.

Blair told the House of Commons on Sept. 22, 2002, "Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, Saddam has continued to produce them, and he has existing and active military plans for the use of chemical and biological weapons, which could be deployed within 45 minutes."

Less than one year later, weapons expert Dr. David Kelly was found dead near his home, shortly after BBC Today aired a program based on his research that Downing Street "sexed up" intelligence. Kelly's death was ruled a suicide, while the government was cleared of providing false intelligence.

The UK has lost 103 servicemen in Iraq, 73 from ambushes. Under growing public pressure for a withdrawal, the government announced plans to bring home 800 troops by May.

Although it may be too early to say whether Blair's historical image will be tarnished by events in Iraq, domestic issues are starting to haunt him: an investigation is underway in Britain concerning д14m that was loaned to Blair's Labour party in the run-up to the last general election.

Continental Disaccord

Politically, Europe is in tatters; some of the damage has been self-inflicted, some is the result of U.S. skullduggery. Its biggest political casualty of late involved Spain's former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar. Three days before general elections, on March 11, 2004, a series of bombs ripped through Madrid's train system, killing 192 people. Aznar quickly blamed ETA, but when al-Qaeda became the prime suspect it looked as if Aznar was looking out for numero uno. Spanish voters punished Aznar and handed Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero a landslide victory. The new Socialist leader's first act in office was to yank Spain's 1,300 troops out of Iraq. However, considering that 90% of Spaniards were opposed to the Iraq war from the start, it was odd their soldiers were near Baghdad to begin with.

Italy, the only other Western European nation with troops in Iraq (that is, if we consider UK to be European), has just handed its charismatic leader, Premier Silvio Berlusconi, a narrow defeat in favor of Romano Prodi. Italy, which has endured some 60 governments since WWII, is tired of its wealthy Crassus, partly due to swirling allegations that Berlusconi paid a heavy bribe to British corporate lawyer, David Mills, who just happened to be the husband of UK cabinet minister Tessa Jowell, a close ally of, yes, Tony Blair. No wonder Berlusconi spent much of his time reworking Italian legislation to prevent past leaders from being prosecuted for 10 years after they vacate office.

This brings us to France, which has witnessed youth from both sides of the tracks take to the streets in numbers not seen since 1968. In November, two young immigrant teenagers were accidentally electrocuted while fleeing from police. The deaths sparked weeks of riots, burned cars and painful soul-searching across the country, while the poor immigrant communities accused the French police of "systematically" harassing young blacks and Africans. No sooner had the French streets returned to normal, university students and union workers were pounding the pavement, demanding the government scrap Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin's youth labor plan that allows companies to fire workers under the age of 26, and for no reason - after two years on the job. After weeks of unrelenting protests and strikes, de Villepin gave up his hire-and-fire American-style fantasy, a monumental setback that did no favors for the battered reputation of President Jacques Chirac.

A G8 Accord?

In July, the members of the G8 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, US and Russia) will descend on St. Petersburg, Russia, which now holds the rotating presidency, for its annual summit. Some pundits in the west are suggesting that the meeting be used as an opportunity to preach to Russia about its failures. However, given the myriad problems facing each member of this powerful institution, this is misguided advice. Hopefully, the 8 leaders will realize their own failures and move beyond petty political posturing.

http://english.mn.ru/english/issue.php?2006-13-1