BRIAN CLOUGHLEY | 14.10.2016 | OPINION
On October 12 the British
media gave prominence to a three-hour
foreign affairs debate that had taken place in the House of Commons the
previous day. The Commons’ proceedings centred on allegations that Russia had
committed war crimes in Syria and there were many insulting and purposefully
offensive statements about Russia and its president made by almost all members
of parliament who took part. The final speech was made by the foreign
secretary, Boris Johnson, and can be taken as reflecting the policy of the
British government towards Russia.
The Guardian newspaper reported that «Making his
frontbench debut as foreign secretary in a Commons debate, Johnson said Russia
should be investigated for war crimes in Aleppo and took the unusual step of
calling for demonstrations by anti-war protesters outside the Russian embassy
in London». «I would certainly like to see demonstrations outside the Russian
embassy», he said. «Where is the Stop the War coalition?»
We have reached a stage in
international affairs in which Her Britannic Majesty’s Principal Secretary of
State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, the Right Honourable Alexander
Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, can stand in Parliament and declare to its members
and to his country and the world that mobs should swarm around a building in
central London that houses a diplomatic mission whose members are officially
accredited to the United Kingdom.
Article 22 of the Vienna
Convention on Diplomatic Relations states, inter alia, that «The
premises of [a diplomatic] mission shall be inviolable... The receiving State
is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises
of the mission against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance
of the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity».
But there has been serious
impairment to the dignity of the United Kingdom by the buffoonish
pronouncements of a most senior member of its government. Certainly, Johnson is
one of these exceptionally intelligent people who is, in the final analysis, a
fool, and it is barely credible that the Prime Minister, Theresa May, the
balanced and sensible leader of the Conservative Party, could continue to
endorse the absurd clowning of her foreign secretary.
Nevertheless, he remains in
that appointment, and therefore it must be presumed that the British government
approves of the use of mob demonstrations to illustrate its censorious position
as regards Russia — and, by definition of that endorsement, all nations it
considers to have in some manner offended against British policies. Johnson
made it clear that he wished to poison relations between London and Moscow, and
although the Russian foreign ministry reacted with dignity and amusement rather
than anger to his bizarre exhortation, there is no doubt he achieved his aim of
raising the level of confrontation with Russia.
Perhaps he was trying to
match or even outdo the confrontation capers across the Atlantic where, in the
course of a presidential election campaign which has developed into a bizarre
circus that daily reaches new depths of vulgarity and xenophobic crudity, the
anti-Russia candidate, Hillary Clinton, has made it clear that if she becomes
president she will never deal with President Putin. Her contempt and hatred goes
back a long way, and first became obvious when she was electioneering in the
time of President GW Bush, who had said after his first
meeting with Russia’s president that «I looked the man in the eye. I found him
to be very straightforward and trustworthy and we had a very good dialogue. I
was able to get a sense of his soul. He’s a man deeply committed to his country
and the best interests of his country and I appreciate very much the frank
dialogue and that’s the beginning of a very constructive relationship». His
point was that US-Russia relations would be greatly helped by personal
understanding, which is a sensible approach to international affairs.
But Clinton dismissed the
Bush statement with derisive scorn by declaring that President Putin «was a
KGB agent... By definition he doesn't have a soul. I mean, this is a waste of
time, right? This is nonsense».
At the election debate
between Trump and Clinton on October 10 she reinforced her anti-Russia stance
by formally pronouncing her belief that Russia is an enemy of the United
States.
She was recorded as saying that «Putin and the
Russian government are directing the [cyber] attacks, the hacking on American
accounts to influence our election... We have never in the history of our
country been in a situation where an adversary, a foreign power, is working so
hard to influence the outcome of the election, and believe, they’re not doing
it to get me elected. They are doing it to try to influence the election for
Donald Trump. Now, maybe because he praised Putin, maybe because he says he
agrees with a lot of what Putin wants to do, maybe because he wants to do
business in Moscow».
So far as the next likely
president of the United States of America is concerned, Russia is «an
adversary» and anyone who speaks approvingly of President Putin must be
condemned as a supporter of an enemy.
It could not be more plain
that Clinton will never, unlike President Bush, even attempt to forge a
«constructive relationship» with Russia. The confrontational approach that was
promoted by Obama will reach new depths and intensity under President Hillary
Clinton, and in this she will be joined by the United Kingdom.
The drumbeats of open
hostility are growing louder, and soon we shall see how far Washington and
London are prepared to go. And we shall also see for how long Moscow is
prepared to accept their insults, their deployment of troops, warships and
combat aircraft along Russia’s borders, and the growing level of relentless
confrontation.
British and Australian armies’ veteran, former deputy head of the UN military mission in Kashmir and Australian defense attaché in Pakistan
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