Retour de Basra

Les pertes britanniques en Irak (et en Afghanistan) sont un sujet très sensible pour une opinion publique majoritairement opposée à ces guerres. The Independent décrit, aujourd’hui, le retour de cercueils de la région de Basra, avec, partout présentes, l’impopularité de cette guerre et celle de Tony Blair. L’impopularité de Blair est telle qu’il évite systématiquement tout contact avec le public, surtout dans des circonstances si dramatiques que le retour de cercueils, et cette absence est dénoncée.

The Independent note : « Rose Gentle, whose son Gordon died two years ago, and Reg Keys, whose son Thomas died in 2003, have received letters inviting them to Highgrove on 29 June. Mrs Gentle said: “It is a disgrace that Prince Charles will meet us, but the Prime Minister will not.We have been trying to meet Tony Blair for years.” »

Le poids de cette guerre (ces guerres lorsque les Britanniques seront plus largement engagés en Afghanistan, où les conditions s’aggravent) ne cesse de peser également du point de vue politique. Les Britanniques s’inquiètent de voir leurs capacités militaires au bord de la rupture, — alors que les Italiens annoncent leur retrait.

« There was also political fallout from the Iraqi side of the ‘war on terror’. In Rome, the new Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, pledged to bring all Italian troops home as soon as possible. “We consider the war in Iraq and the occupation of the country a great error” he said. “It has not resolved, but complicated, the situation of security. Terrorism has found a new base in Iraq and new excuses for attacks both inside and outside the country.”

» In London, officials have repeatedly stressed that British forces will” see it through to the end” in Iraq and Afghanistan. The military commanders, however, are deeply apprehensive about fighting a war on two fronts. They have warned that resources will be at their tightest stretch in maintaining such commitment in both countries.

» The demands on British troops in both countries led to criticism from Sir Menzies Campbell, the leader of the Liberal Democrats. He said: “The competing demands of Afghanistan and Iraq have undoubtedly placed a great burden on our armed forces. Sooner or later something has got to give. Only professionalism and commitment have enabled us to meet our obligations.” »

Un texte de Anatole Kaletsky paru le 11 mai dans The Times, sous le titre très expressif de « Macblair, a walking shadow », est présenté par certaines sources comme exprimant l’avertissement de l’establishment britannique à Tony Blair. Le Premier ministre, dit ce texte, a fait son temps et doit partir. Et son successeur, Gordon Brown, doit asseoir sa popularité sur une mesure prioritaire : le retrait des forces britanniques d’Irak et la rupture avec l’équipe Bush et ses folies.

« By pulling out of Iraq and breaking publicly with the Bush Administration (which by then will itself be in terminal decline), Mr Brown could win himself so much credit with the Labour Party and the affluent middle classes that he could do almost anything else he might choose with the health service, taxes, pensions or schools. Mr Major’s fate was sealed by the way he stuck to a policy that was doomed to failure — membership of the ERM.

» If Mr Brown heeds the rhymes of history, he will ditch the foreign policy that has been responsible for Mr Blair’s demise. If he does this, he could yet turn a funeral dirge into a song of triumph. »

Mis en ligne le 19 mai 2006 à 05H54