Jonathan Powell, Blair's chief of staff for twelve years, has told The Guardian that we should be open to talking to terrorist groups like Hamas, the Taliban and even al-Qaeda.
The idea fills me with horror. Only a week ago Hamas was celebrating the murder of eight innocents at a seminary.
But here are some immediate more reasoned reactions:
- All terrorists are not alike. The IRA had clear demands. They wanted Britain out of Ireland. Other terrorist groups lack all reasonableness. Hamas want Israel wiped off the face of the map. Al-Qaeda regard us as infidels and hate every aspect of our civilisation. It was possible to deal with Irish nationalism in a way that it is not possible to deal with Islamic fascism.
- Democratic governments should never negotiate from a position of weakness. Talks with Sinn Fein only had any hope of success because the IRA had been thoroughly infiltrated by the British intelligence services and was bleeding militarily. Democratic governments should never go to the negotiating table from a position of weakness. Only when the Taliban are more or less beaten will there be any chance of anything reasonable emerging.
- Never give the terrorists more of an inside track than democratic organisations. Tony Blair made a big mistake by constantly dealing with Sinn Fein rather than the much more democratic SDLP. The result, as Seamus Mallon pointed out, was a migration of all young nationalist talent into Sinn Fein because they knew where they needed to be if they wanted to be heard. The same has been happening with the Government's relations with Britain's Muslims. The Government is often treating with the louder and more extremist groups.