[Marxism] Cop-out by British Greens on the Iraq War

[Brian Shannon <Brian_Shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Even the BBC puts "radical" in quotes in this article on the UK Green  
Party electoral manifesto.

Despite Blair's unpopularity over the international cover he provided  
in the American-lead Iraq war, this GP manifesto has only three  
paragraphs about the war and they are towards the end of this 32 page  
document. The manifesto is downloadable from the site below.

There is nothing about the contradictory lies and evasions of Blair and  
his administration. Nothing about Lord Goldberg reversing his opinion  
that the war was illegal. Nothing about the claim that Saddam Hussein  
would be able to launch an attack in 45 minutes. Nothing about the  
Niger yellow cakes. Nothing about the absence of WMD. Nothing about  
complicity in the pre-war sanctions that resulted in the loss of  
500,000 lives, etc., etc.

And it does not call for Immediate Withdrawal, but for "seeking" the  
withdrawal of UK troops. It is not clear where the seeking will take  
place. Could there be some confusion with the recent Easter egg hunts?

The article concludes with  comments by GP party supporters. Like the  
manifesto, the comments, which must have been pre-selected by the party  
leaders, don't have a single criticism of the Iraq war.

from Brian Shannon
__________________________

Greens reveal 'radical' manifesto
Green Party's principal speaker Keith Taylor

The Greens say they can offer a radical alternative for voters who are  
fed up with the three main political parties.

They put climate change at the heart of their manifesto, saying it was  
a bigger threat than terrorism.

They pledged to fund public services and green policies with money  
saved by scrapping Labour's road building plan, Britain's nuclear  
arsenal and ID cards.

Labour, the Conservatives and Lib Dems all say they are determined to  
tackle climate change.

But the Green's main speaker, Keith Taylor, said their "privatise and  
pollute" agendas had led to soaring CO2 emission levels, and said  
flooding in Boscastle and Carlisle showed the effects of climate  
change.

FULL AT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/vote_2005/frontpage/ 
4435359.stm
OR
http://makeashorterlink.com/?U19332FDA


[from page 28: the only section on the Iraq war]
A truly ethical foreign policy

The war in Iraq illustrates fundamental problems with current British   
foreign policy, which is increasingly driven by militarism,  
neo-conservative  strategies for armed pre-emptive strikes and a  
misguided faith in the ‘special  relationship’ with the USA. The UK’s  
continuing need to secure long-term oil and gas  supplies only serves  
to exacerbate this process.

A Green government would not have gone to war in Iraq. Such an act was  
against international law and lacked the support of the UN. It was a   
profoundly misjudged act of foreign policy which has killed thousands,  
reduced  Iraq to chaos, and left the UK dangerously exposed to global  
terrorism and  divorced from our partners in the EU. We will seek the  
withdrawal of UK troops,  who should be replaced by UN peacekeepers.

A Green government will rebuild our international reputation and   
introduce a real ethical foreign policy. This will be based on peaceful  
diplomacy  (e.g. increased use of peacekeepers to help prevent  
conflict), arms  reduction, nuclear disarmament, the reform of  
international bodies and the promotion of  lasting common security  
through aid, fair trade, environmental sustainability  and economic  
stability.
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