An interesting change in policy seems to be occuring under Britain’s new government.
Gordon Brown’s government seems to be making its decision based on realities and facts, not based on ideologies like Blair did and Bush still does.
I might just vote Labour for the first time ever since I like the way Mr Brown is leading us.
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The Foreign Minister finally conceded the truth that British actions in Iraq have been the cause of Muslim anger against Britain.
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Then Britain starts a withdrawal programme from Iraq.
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Now the defence minister says that the Taliban are going to have to be involved in the peace process in Afghanistan (as opposed to miltarily crushed).
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He also implies that Hamas will have to be brought into the Middle East peace process
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He states that there absolutely no possibility of a Western legal system in Afghanistan and that the only way Afghanistan can become a successful state is through an Islamic-based legal system.
The Taliban government in Afghanistan was overthrown by a US-led coalition in 2001 but the Islamic extremist group has been resurgent over the past 19 months and the number of British military fatalities now stands at 81 since the invasion.
Mr Browne said that the participation of the country’s former rulers was necessary in the peace process if it was to be successful.
“In Afghanistan, at some stage, the Taliban will need to be involved in the peace process because they are not going away, any more than I suspect Hamas are going away from Palestine,” he told delegates.
The defence secretary suggested that that those overseeing the peace process would probably expect the former rulers to obey some “basic parameters” before becoming involved.
But he added that there was no possibility of establishing a western legal system in Afghanistan and argued that an “Islamic-based” solution must be accepted instead.
“I don’t want to tell you the colour of the face of the Swedish defence minister when I suggested to her at some stage it may be necessary, in order to get to where we want to be in Afghanistan, for us to accept that there is some route through an Islamic-based legal system that will get us there,” he said