"The Democratic Imperative"

Great Britain's Right Honourable (and right HoT!) Foreign Sec David Miliband is hitting Ye Olde Oxford campus today with a demarche of marching orders for changing the world. Sure to make Realpolitikers and Isolationists on both sides of the Pond scream "Foul!"

In a prebill titled "The Democratic Imperative," Secretary Miliband is hot off the trail with Great Satan's delectable Sec of State after touring democratic nurseries in Afghanistan. Miliband underscored that certain world leaders will not sit about as NATO redefs herself as the North Atlantic Trade Org, or as the UN adds the suffix 'fair' to her initials or allowing selfish arroganters to sit about all comfy as tiny baby democracies have their tiny baby heads choked plumb off.

"We've got responsibilities that we're determined to live up to and obligations
that we're determined to live up to and ditto for the Agfhan authorities. That's
something we want to follow through and at the heart of both our strategies is
the belief this has to be done with the Afghan government and in fact led by the
Afghan government, with our support."

Making the case for constant confrontation and selective intervention military wise GB's FoSec sounds like a champion of ideals to take Neoconservatism into the next decade. Blowing off any sure to follow critique about current battles to turn freedom's shaky candles in certain places into blazing torches for freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan, Miliband makes the case that the Free World can handle it - and the sooner she gets fully crunk, aggressive and nonapologetic about it - the better.

"The neo-conservative movement seemed more certain about spreading democracy
around the world. The left seemed conflicted between the desirability of the
goal and its qualms about the use of military means. My plea is not to
let divisions over those conflicts obscure our national interest, never mind
our moral impulse, in supporting movements for democracy."

And how! Yet, isn't there something scary about current ops in Iraq and Afghanistan? Maybe the free world has went too far too fast? Bollocks to that mate!

"In fact, the goal of spreading democracy should be a great progressive project;
the means need to combine both soft and hard power. We should not let the
debate about the how of foreign policy obscure the clarity about the what."

Seeing first hand the probs that intolerance and fear of freedom breed in, oh, say a certain little rats nest in Africa - the torment that time travelling intolerants can provide, Miliband knows where of he speaks.

Last week in Afghanistan, David and Condoleeza were confronted with skeptical press pointing to a most unsuper villan act of terror that seemed like a weak play of 'Gotcha!' Dr Rice fielded that one.

"It frankly doesn't take much courage to blow up a school"

The spiritual sons of El Alamein and Arnhem are sending a message to NATO to pick up the slack - that mainland Europe is vulnerable - that we all need to be in it to win it. After all, why have all these Euro militaries if all they do is prance and parade about on asphalt and use the catchy (in a really dumb way too) logo of "Peace through Dialouge"?

GB currently deploys about 7.7K cats in Ex Talibanland. Deutschland fields about half that - 3.5K and only in stable areas. Kein kriegen Deutschers? The Desert Fox must be rolling in his grave.

"After the end of the cold war it was tempting to believe in the 'end of history' - the inevitable process of liberal democracy and capitalist economics. Now with the economic success of China, we can no longer take the forward march of democracy for granted."

Paddy Wintour the chief Foreign Policy editor at Guardian Uk says Miliband is deathly serious - he's staking it all on a killer case

"Among a string of practical proposals to support democracy, the foreign
secretary will suggest:

· encouraging economic openness as a means of tackling corruption and increasing transparency, including in China;

· a new round of provincial elections in Iraq, to help to bind in former insurgents who want proof of their local influence, and the chance to join the Iraqi security force;

· organisations like the UN or Nato should consider offering "security guarantees" to new but fragile governments, conditional on them abiding by democratic rules;

· support for "civilian surges" for democracy led by "literate, better-educated people able to access information and communicate with others".

David's Democratic Imperatives will argue that fostering democracy in the Middle East "is the best long-term defence against global terrorism and conflict"

"We must resist the argument of the left and the right to retreat into a world of Realpolitik."