What does British Media think about US Middle Eastern politics

While these days its getting more dimmed-down in British media about their own country when it comes to foreign and in particular US politics they still call a spade a spade. So we wanted to point you to one story that seemingly did not get much attention outside of the UK but it includes a few paragraphs we believe you really should read.

The story was recently published by the Daily Mail and was written by Gavin Esler former BBC Washington correspondent and current Newsnight presenter. In the story he is quoting from a conversation with an Iranian friend of his — who despises the regime in Tehran — that told him sardonically:

…”How much do you think the Islamic Republic of Iran has paid George Bush?

‘What do you mean?’ I asked.

‘Well,’ my friend responded, ‘Bush has done more to help the regime achieve its foreign policy objectives than anyone else in 27 years.’

From the moment Ayatollah Khomeini came to power in 1989, after the overthrow of the Shah, the Islamic regime has wanted a few simple things: to destroy Iraq’s military power, to get rid of a dangerous rival in Saddam Hussein, to extend the Shia revolution, to expand Islamic fundamentalism, and to make America look bad, as ‘the Great Satan’ in the Middle East.

In the course of his presidency, Mr Bush has accomplished all those goals for them. Perhaps it should be the Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who should be posing in front of a banner with the words ‘Mission Accomplished’.

Also in British media:
Last week former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was warning in the Sunday Times that it is crucial to understand the way Tehran views the world:

…The school of thought represented by President Ahmadinejad may well see Iranian prospects as more promising than they have been in centuries. Iraq has collapsed as a counterweight; within Iraq, Shi’ite forces are led by men who had been trained in Tehran…

In the meantime the Economist reported that the UK has sent a high ranking diplomat to Syria to peel it away from its alliance with Iran.

In further news BBC is reporting that the UK will commence its withdrawal from Iraq very soon and that British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has told MPs the first major city (Najaf) occupied by British troops will be handed over in December with Basra following a few months later.