Former British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd yesterday sharply criticized Washingtonâs policy in Iraq, saying the United States was mistaken in believing it could impose democracy on the war-shattered country through the use of force. âYou really donât win hearts and minds by filling hospitals and mortuaries,â said Hurd, who was foreign secretary between 1989 and 1995 in the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher.
| You don't have to, Doug. You fill the hospitals and mortuaries with Bad Guys. Everybody left standing is eligible to vote. Pretty simplisme, huh? |
Hurd was referring to the recent fighting in Iraq between US forces and hard-line Sunni and Shiite Muslims that has left hundreds of Iraqis dead and hundreds more wounded.
| Did he mention anything about them setting fire to people? Mutilating corpses? That sort of thing? |
Hurd told BBC radio that the recent upsurge in violence was âalmost inevitableâ and added that the US-led coalition should hand over power to Iraqis who have real influence in the country and not just those who have âcurried favorâ with the Pentagon.
| Personally, I think we should have installed a latter-day McArthur to rule with an iron hand until the locals catch on. I think Saddoun Hammadi and Baghdad Bob should both be well on the way to decomposition by now, along with hundreds of others who seem to have been released on their own recognizance. |
Hurd also criticized Britainâs close support for the US administration over Iraq and urged Prime Minister Tony Blair to send an envoy to Baghdad to explain his governmentâs position.
| Good idea. Send somebody to talk. |
Meanwhile British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon defended government policy, saying life had become much better in Iraq a year after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, despite current violence. There was a âsense of real tangible progress in the country,â he told the BBC.
| There's just a bunch of bad hats trying to obliterate it at the moment. |
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