Straw Admits British Colonial Mistakes

The habit of drawing lines on maps from comfortable offices thousands of kilometres away is like spitting in the wind: sooner or later, the monster knocks at the door of the inventor. It is important that states do not make the same mistake today by interfering in the internal affairs of others, intruding in alien cultures and judging peoples by their own limited standards of ethics and behaviour.

The British Foreign Secretary has claimed that Britain is to blame for problems around the world due to its past colonial policy. In an interview with The New Statesman magazine, he declared “There is a lot wrong with imperialism. A lot of the problems I have to deal with now are a consequence of our colonial past”.

He mentioned the mistakes made in drawing the frontier between India and Pakistan in Kashmir, which was hastily concluded two days after independence and admitted that Britain’s intervention in Afghanistan was “less than glorious” over 150 years. Regarding the Middle East, Jack Straw pointed out that the same promises were being given to the Palestinians and Israelis at the same time and it was impossible to honour both equally, while Iraq’s irregular frontiers were also drawn by the British, creating the Kuwait problem, which would naturally be a part of Iraq, along with its oil.

John ASHTEAD PRAVDA.Ru LONDON UNITED KINGDOM