After taking over Downing Street from Tony Blair last June, Gordon Brown has met George Bush twice.
The British premier addressed a joint press conference with the embattled Bush on Thursday in Washington and said the world owes Bush a huge debt of gratitude for leading the world “in our determination to root out terrorism and ensure that there’s no safe haven for terrorism and no hiding place for terrorists“.
The Brown salutation for Bush comes at a time when the former colonial power has been aiding the US in its invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan --a move condemned by British military commanders as foolish and na•ve.
Not only has the latest Anglo-American military venture in Iraq and Afghanistan failed miserably to root out terrorism, rather it has resulted in more terrorism and instability in the strategic Middle East.
Brown is simply not oblivious to the fact that his flattery of Bush is geared at lying and deceiving public opinion about what actually is unfolding in the two war-battered countries.
Brown also knows that neither his country nor Bush’s America has been able to curb terrorism, let alone eradicate it.
In actuality, the problem with US, British and French leaders in the Middle East is their unpopularity. The three have indeed lost their political credibility in the Middle East largely due to their systemic failures in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Therefore, Brown’s sycophancy can only make sense as some sort of “political courtesy“. Britain and the US are grappling with a mountain of challenges in the Middle East which cannot be resolved through toadyism.
It is obvious that an honest war on terror demands the establishment of democracy and respect for human rights.
America and some European states are visibly plagued with what can be called “managing chaos“.
Instead of showering misplaced praise on Bush’s invasion, occupation, torture and discord, Brown would do better to address Britain’s fast multiplying problems.