The flawed Iraq and Afghan policies of the West

Now when the cat is out of the bag and it has been proved beyond any shadow of doubt that Tony Blair had lied to the world about the presence of weapons of mass destruction with Saddam Hussain for the elimination of which he ordered military strikes in Iraq in cahoots with the US, is it not fair that he be put in the dock alongwith President Bush and tried for the war crimes?Weren’t the accomplices of Hitler who had committed murder of the Jews in the second world war tried for war crimes?Different yardsticks cannot be applied on Bush and Blair.
The former British PM has already accepted his mistake and has sought forgiveness of his nation. The question is :Can a public leader, the head of a country who commits such a big folly like the one committed by Blair be forgiven ? If he was spared, would it not set a wrong precedent for the would-be so-called leaders if they also cheat their people and mislead the world by telling lies to them?They might commit similar war crimes secure in the knowledge that like Blair and Bush they would also get away with their crimes.
Let us admit that the American and British leadership mishandled both Iraq and Afghanistan. The Americans didn’t give due consideration to the unique geographical terrain of Afghanistan before landing their forces there. After sixteen years of their military adventure in Afghanistan, President Obama now says that the permanent solution of Afghanistan crisis lies in negotiation with the Taliban. May one ask him that if permanent solution of the Afghan crisis lay in parleys with the Taliban how would he justify the use of the America’s military juggernaut in Afghanistan for good 16 years for crushing Taliban?It seems that Mullah Omar’s statement that the Americans might have many too many wrist watches with them but we have a lot of time available to us was prophetic and correct. In due course of time Washington would have to sit on the negotiating table with the Taliban for working out a strategy for the safe exit of its forces from Afghanistan without losing face.
POSTSCRIPT:Bilawal has been concentrating too much on Azad Kashmir as is evident from his visits galore of the area in his bid to neutralise the political hold of Nawaz League in the valley. A couple of public rallies have been scheduled for him in the next few days.