2004-03-22 08:28 Źródło: Warsaw Business Journal
Fine words, Mr. Miller, but who's in the firing line now?
Fast-forward 18 months and the violence unleashed from this Pandora's box of hatred, which is hopelessly beyond the neo-cons' pathetically limited power to control, continues apace.
The four bombs in Madrid last week showed all of us in Europe that we can take nothing for granted anymore. Whoever the perpetrators of this disgusting crime were, and whatever assistance they had, just three days later the Spanish voters returned a socialist government that the previous week was considered an also-ran. This result cut through the dross of Washington-driven international 'debate' on Iraq to show clearly that, as far as the average Spaniard was concerned, the Madrid outrage was retaliation for Spain's support in Iraq, support which the majority of that country's citizens opposed. The first statement by the new Spanish prime minister was that Spanish troops would be pulled out of Iraq.
In response, and in a stunning piece of oversimplification, Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller said, "Revising our position on Iraq after terrorist attacks would be to admit that terrorists are stronger and that they are right." In other words, a democratically-elected government doing what the majority of voters want it to do is, in fact, an act of cowardice. The majority of Poles also did not want to get involved in America's crusade, but this minor detail was not allowed to cloud Miller's judgment in plunging Poland into the disaster. So perhaps we should infer from this, then, that the solution to the war on terror may well be the restriction of open debate and the curtailing of civil liberties until, finally, we arrive at the abrogation of democracy itself. But would that not be the very victory the terrorists seek?
Poland has never known terrorism in its modern form, and now this country finds itself thoroughly mired in a confused global power-shift over which it has absolutely no control. Is it democracy versus dictatorship? Islam versus Christianity? Or simply Pax Americana, with the protagonist doing what has always come naturally to empires down the centuries?
Whatever the future holds, it seems Poland's head is destined to remain well above the parapet, and now Poles must put their faith in their security forces as they try to counter a threat of which they have precious little experience.
Chris Wells yawningly yammers on about what the world's English-language press are saying about Poland
Eighteen months ago, it all seemed so easy. The Washington neo-cons decided that, to give the American economy the fillip it so desperately needed, Iraq was to be leveled by American bombs, then rebuilt by American companies that would be paid with money from Iraqi oil. To give this noxious stew some flavor, they added the spice of illusory WMDs, and the even greater illusion of 'freeing' the Iraqi people. Then, in the face of UN opposition, America invited any other countries desperate for its favor to join it in this crusade, the biggest takers of course being the UK, Spain and Poland.
The four bombs in Madrid last week showed all of us in Europe that we can take nothing for granted anymore. Whoever the perpetrators of this disgusting crime were, and whatever assistance they had, just three days later the Spanish voters returned a socialist government that the previous week was considered an also-ran. This result cut through the dross of Washington-driven international 'debate' on Iraq to show clearly that, as far as the average Spaniard was concerned, the Madrid outrage was retaliation for Spain's support in Iraq, support which the majority of that country's citizens opposed. The first statement by the new Spanish prime minister was that Spanish troops would be pulled out of Iraq.
In response, and in a stunning piece of oversimplification, Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller said, "Revising our position on Iraq after terrorist attacks would be to admit that terrorists are stronger and that they are right." In other words, a democratically-elected government doing what the majority of voters want it to do is, in fact, an act of cowardice. The majority of Poles also did not want to get involved in America's crusade, but this minor detail was not allowed to cloud Miller's judgment in plunging Poland into the disaster. So perhaps we should infer from this, then, that the solution to the war on terror may well be the restriction of open debate and the curtailing of civil liberties until, finally, we arrive at the abrogation of democracy itself. But would that not be the very victory the terrorists seek?
Poland has never known terrorism in its modern form, and now this country finds itself thoroughly mired in a confused global power-shift over which it has absolutely no control. Is it democracy versus dictatorship? Islam versus Christianity? Or simply Pax Americana, with the protagonist doing what has always come naturally to empires down the centuries?
Whatever the future holds, it seems Poland's head is destined to remain well above the parapet, and now Poles must put their faith in their security forces as they try to counter a threat of which they have precious little experience.
Chris Wells yawningly yammers on about what the world's English-language press are saying about Poland
Eighteen months ago, it all seemed so easy. The Washington neo-cons decided that, to give the American economy the fillip it so desperately needed, Iraq was to be leveled by American bombs, then rebuilt by American companies that would be paid with money from Iraqi oil. To give this noxious stew some flavor, they added the spice of illusory WMDs, and the even greater illusion of 'freeing' the Iraqi people. Then, in the face of UN opposition, America invited any other countries desperate for its favor to join it in this crusade, the biggest takers of course being the UK, Spain and Poland.
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