Tuesday, March 8, 2011

William Hague may not be the right person for Foreign Secretary job, says Menzies Campbell after Libya bungle, no more silly military adventures
















Dear All

The old saying goes, ‘there but for the grace of God, go I.’

And William Hague certainly has put his foot right in it with his bungled Special Forces operation in Libya.

That was a disaster and we are lucky that the small group of SAS soldiers rounded up and held by rebel soldiers weren’t shot.

Who in their right mind thought this was a runner?

It was completely wrong to send the SAS in there when it is patently obvious that any action must be through the offices of the United Nations.

If we aren’t backing Gaddafi then we are backing the rebels, we need to be making contact with their leaders on a diplomatic level.

Soldiers tramping about in khaki aren’t helpful!

Hague should have known this and veto this.

Rescue mission to get British nationals out, all well and fine.

This caper, not fine!

Sir Menzies Campbell has called into question whether William Hague is the right person for the job of Foreign Secretary.

I agree with him.

This is a job that requires commitment due to the demanding nature and travel.

Hague’s excuse of the botched boy’s own adventure was that the decision to send Special Forces into the country had been taken after ‘professional and military advice’.

Get better advice.

Sir Menzies Campbell told the BBC:

“It is particularly demanding when you find yourself with a policy which everyone has accepted for 30 years in the Middle East is suddenly turned on its head. Whereas before you were putting your money on stability and security of oil supply, now what you are having to do is embrace democracy, rule of law and freedom of expression.”

This embarrassment of the botched SAS operation has left the Tory Government being accused of ‘serial bungling.’

And follows the crisis of evacuating British workers hic cups!

David Cameron ham fisted way of going about idea of a no-fly zone hasn’t helped either; we need everyone to climb onboard for this to work.

Today Britain and France were drafting a UN resolution for an air exclusion zone.

Okay, but there should be more dialogue with both the Russians and Chinese, we need them as well.

Sir Campbell also added that the mission had been ‘ill-conceived, poorly planned and embarrassingly executed’.

And the boys down at Hereford are said to be furious that they have taken the blame for the mission, which is said to have involved the Special Boat Service.

Yesterday, the Foreign Secretary, who personally authorised the move, said he took full ministerial responsibility" for the decision to insert what he described as a "diplomatic team" into eastern Libya.

Which begs the question, could the ‘diplomatic team’ not just have got off the boat at Benghazi after hitching a lift with the Royal Navy?

Foreign Secretary William Hague’s position isn't untenable yet but if he keeps this up it soon will be.

Either go the full road with this or ask Cameron for a move to something else where you don’t have so much travel.

It isn’t enough to talk a good game; you have to play a good game, that’s the job of Foreign Sec.

Use the United Nations.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

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