Sir Anthony Robert Eden, prime minister of Britain in the early second half of the twentieth century, decided to occupy Egypt in order to teach President Nasser a lesson for nationalizing the Suez Canal in 1956. Both France and Israel readily supported his belligerence.
The British and French forces stormed Port Said on Nov. 5, 1956. The combined British and French forces could not make much headway against the Egyptians beyond 20 kilometers from the city limits. Contrary to the facts, Prime Minister Eden declared in the House of Commons that the British forces had captured the town of Ismaeliah and were quickly marching to the contentious Suez Canal. It soon transpired that the prime minister was lying to the House. Consequently, he had to submit his resignation in ignominy after calling back the forces from Egypt. The price of the prime minister’s lie was his political future. He was knighted as the Lord of Avon before being pushed into oblivion.
The present Prime Minister Tony Blair is heading for an identical fate. He lied to the Parliament about the presence of the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and plunged the country into a dubious war. Now several Cabinet members have been alienated because of Blair’s latest policy of supporting Israel in its attack on Lebanon. Blair’s policy of hanging to the coat tails of US President George W. Bush has made the British public wonder if their country has any independent foreign policy. Some sections of the British media demand the freedom of the United Kingdom from the American policies and ask, “Why do we want an independent Foreign Office” or “Who want to be a lapdog of Bush.”
On the other side of the Atlantic, the White House fed similar lies to the people. President Bush decided to fight against Iraq on a previously charted scheme to destroy Islam with the dream of taking the full control of the huge hydrocarbon reserves in the region, reducing the Arab countries into feeble entities so that Israel’s safety is guaranteed.
It was with this objective that the then American secretary of state told the Security Council that Iraq with its WMD posed a huge threat to the whole world, not merely to the United States.
All the senior officials of the American administration including the president, vice president, defense secretary, secretary of state, national security adviser and the head of CIA were parties to spreading the big lie about Iraqi weapons and thus deceiving the American people. Bush was re-elected on this lie and the US forces sunk deeper into the quicksand of Iraq.
The lie has been expanded and enlarged to continue the savage attacks on Lebanon and Gaza Strip. The ugly face of the US has been becoming increasingly evident to the world. The US, apparently, followed the old British policies of making proxy wars using the soldiers of other countries. Israel has been fighting a proxy war for the US that guaranteed Israel the protection against any kind of international sanction. The US protects Israel with Security Council veto, intimidation of the Israel’s critics and supply of internationally banned weapons.
Even some of Israel’s Knesset members and a section of the public have realized Israel is waging a proxy war.
The American aim is abundantly clear. It is to destroy everything related to Islam.
This was what Bush had in mind when he commented on the British government’s moves against the anticipated terror attacks on the US-bound planes saying that it was a fight against “Islamic fascists”. On the other hand, the political observers are aware that the British operation was nothing but a ploy to boost the popularity of Tony Blair whose support base has been fast dwindling even within his party.
Unfortunately the times have changed and now no political leader is willing to acknowledge his mistakes as Sir Anthony Eden did half a century ago.
Bush did not resign following the Sept. 11 attacks. Now he is likely to continue in the White House until the end of his present second term.
As for Tony Blair, his popularity is falling at an alarming rate and the Parliament has lost trust in him; he is not likely to run for elections any more.
Condi is also likely to fade into oblivion with Bush unless she wins nomination as a presidential candidate. In either case I hope she does not return to her old university because in that event, I fear, the young American generation will be learning extremist political ideas from her, not to say anything of the political lies she is fond of uttering.
