The War on Terror struggles onwards towards defeat. Tariq Ali has written an excellent piece on the tragedy of Afghanistan, reminding us that 'It is much better for regime-change to come from below even if this means a long wait as in South Africa, Indonesia or Chile. Occupations disrupt the possibilities of organic change and create a much bigger mess than existed before'. In Iraq, elite US commanders say they 'face a Vietnam-style collapse in political and public support that could force the military into a hasty retreat'.
But NZ's prime minister continues to abstain on these issues. Lately she has been flatly refusing to state the government's position on the ongoing occupation of Iraq - as discussed in this WSWS article. Once an opponent of the US military intervention in Vietnam, Clark now says, we shouldn't 'get involved in a debate about what other countries should do with their troops'. And now she's going to meet with US President George Bush. Clark says that the talks will not talk about the US's illegal wars of aggression, despite the Iraq occupation currently being the biggest issue in international affairs. NoRightTurn says that Clark will be 'Shaking hands with a torturer', and 'Any decent person would refuse to meet' with Bush.
If any further indication is needed of the Labour Government's foreign policy, note that it has quietly resumed military ties with Indonesia, to the astonishment of human rights groups.
