For some reason unbeknown to me, I am a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir's mailing list.
The group, for those who are not familiar with its unique brand of bile, campaigns for the establishment of a radical Islamic caliphate in which non-Muslims would be forced to live under Sharia law. Amongst many others, Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague has called for the group to be banned.
Shortly before the 2005 election, a Muslim friend handed me a clutch of leaflets distributed by the group at East London Mosque which described the Jewish population of Israel as being akin to "filthy swines" and urged the "destruction" of Hindus living in the disputed Kashmir region of India. Even George Galloway, at that time standing for the nearby Bethnal Green and Bow constituency on a radical anti-war ticket, did not escape the group's wrath; an entire leaflet being devoted to his (seemingly numerous) "crimes against Islam".
Surprisingly, today's "press release" from Hizb ut-Tahrir concerns not Israeli foreign policy but David Cameron:
"Neo-con Cameron fails to reinvent himself in Pakistan
David Cameron has just returned looking flushed from a trip to Pakistan.
He may be flushed from the sun but he ought to be flushed from embarrasment by the stunning u-turn he made in a disingenuos foreign policy speech. He even followed in the footsteps of Tony Blair and George W Bush by taking a swipe at the Islamic institution of the Caliphate in a speech to Pakistan's Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad (for which he was heckled), when trying to outline his ‘new foreign policy doctrine’ – which sounded remarkably similar to Blair’s liberal interventionist doctrine in substance, differing only on emphasis.
It was u-turn because Cameron said he was not a neoconservative, and that he opposed the neoconservative foreign policy that tried to impose democracy at the barrel of a gun. This from a man who supported the war in Iraq, the ongoing occupation of Afghanistan and was a cheerleader for Israel's bombardment of Lebanon.
Furthermore Cameron’s Shadow Cabinet has no shortage of neocons. His Shadow Chancellor and close ally George Osbourne has hailed "the excellent neo-conservative case for action against Iraq".
Shadow Education Spokesman, Michael Gove - another member of the Cameroon inner-circle and Notting Hill set - is a self-declared neocon and signed up member of the neo-conservative Henry Jackson Society, who have no issue with imposing democracy by military force.
It is disingenous because Cameron’s track record on these issues suggests he has no problem with bombing his way to democracy in principle. Rather it is likely that the new ‘heir to Blair’ (as the master of media manipulation) realises that he needs to distance himself from what is now a soiled brand.
Sadly, for Cameron, the cap fits – so he’ll have to wear it. So it’s, no Neo-Cam, but still Neo-Con for the Tories."
Discuss.
