Part of my recess reading, thinking and press work has been related to my responsibilities as Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesman.
Two issues have dominated recently - the Afghanistan war and the release of the Lockerbie terrorist. I’m writing about them together because they both relate to how we fight international terrorism.
The rationale for NATO’s Afghanistan presence is the fight against Al-Qaeda – it’s why I still believe this action is necessary. Yet sometimes this anti-terrorist objective has been widened too much, so some rashly talk as if our troops can’t leave until we’ve created western-style democracy and prosperity. That must be wrong.
The tragedy of the Afghan war is the years wasted by President Bush. After 9/11, there was an international coalition, including Muslim countries, backing action against the Taleban and Al-Qaeda.
Yet Bush – for reasons unconnected to 9/11 – attacked Iraq. This broke apart the coalition, diverted military, political and financial resources from Afghanistan and thereby played into the hands of the terrorists.
Now President Obama is clearing up the mess. His changes are coming at a high price, but at least he is changing strategy. He understands we must engage directly with the Taleban, to split those who simply want foreigners to leave their country from those who would impose extreme interpretations of Islam. We have to give Obama a chance.
Yet as our awe-inspiring soldiers bear this heavy burden in Afghanistan, a SNP Justice Minister sets free a terrorist convicted of murdering 270 people in Scotland. Whether the real reason for his decision was compassion or commercial, it was wrong.
