Our values tested

Terry Waite (former hostage in Lebanon), The Guardian, November 23:

“…War, as well as being a blunt instrument, fails totally to deal with the root issues underlying terrorism. In the political realm it requires statesmen and women; individuals who can think beyond the next election and who have the wisdom that comes from making an attempt to understand cultures other than those of the west.

“Western democracy has many attractive features and has brought manifold benefits. It takes no intelligence to recognise that it also has its dark side and that it cannot, nor necessarily ought it to be, exported to all parts of the world. If the optimistic statements made by some British and US politicians before the Iraqi war – when it was stated that the conflict would be concluded in weeks – were truly believed then one can only despair at the level of understanding demonstrated.”

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