"Muscular Diplomacy Failing West"

The Ambassador To Washington Tells Our Correspondent That Warfare Alone Is Not Enough To Counter World Terrorism

By Tom Baldwin
September 14, 2007
TimesOnLine

Britain’s most senior ambassador has made an impassioned call for a “new diplomacy”, suggesting that the muscular approach to fighting terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq is no longer sufficient.

Sir David Manning, formerly Tony Blair’s right-hand man on foreign policy, said: “It’s not enough just to go on about terrorism and the Middle East peace process . . . we need to find new ways of bridging and reaching out.”

...“If you’re worried about Muslim extremism, can’t we find some way of helping those who want to set up networks of schools...-but don’t yet have the money?

“When I see how much money we’re spending on other things, it does seem to me to be a very poor investment on our part.”

He asked: “How many schools could you get for an aircraft carrier?”

...Is Iraq a better place for the war? “I don’t think I can say that,” he replied. “It depends on who you are. Certainly it’s better if you’re a Kurd, but not better if you are someone in Baghdad who has lost their friends and relations in sectarian killing.” The West had slowly learnt it took time to build a democracy and “we’re still not very good at it”.