Foreign policy 'undermining UK'

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/6543479.stm

The UK's ability to be an international force for good has been undermined by foreign policy errors, a report from charity Oxfam argues.

But it also warns against the UK drawing back from a policy of trying to solve the world's worst crises.

It would be disastrous if the "misadventure in Iraq" led to the next prime minister not attempting to resolve other conflicts, Oxfam says.

The government said the past decade of foreign policy had been "effective".

Meanwhile, a separate report by the Oxford Research Group (ORG) has warned that British and US policy towards Iraq has "spawned new terror in the region".

'Damaged relations'

The Oxfam report, A Fair Foreign Policy, argues that the positive effect of interventions in Sierra Leone and Kosovo should not be forgotten amid debate about Iraq.

An online survey of 2,374 adults conducted for Oxfam showed that 67% of people would support Britain sending troops as a last resort to stop genocide and other atrocities in the future.

It calls for foreign policy to refocus on protecting civilians, as well as challenging human rights abuses by friends as well as enemies.

But the report also says that wider policy towards the Middle East - and not just Iraq - has soured relations between many developing countries and the UK, based partly on a perception of double standards.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We have rightly focused on 'hard' security issues such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo and Sierra Leone as well as 'softer' issues such as climate change and poverty eradication.

"We disagree that the UK now exercises less influence because of Iraq.

"On the contrary the UK remains at the heart of every major international debate and our influence as consensus builders is recognised worldwide."

Training zone

The ORG study argues that by including Iraq in the "war on terror", Britain and the US have "created a combat training zone for jihadists".

The strategy has also "emboldened" Iran, Syria and North Korea and led to a resurgence of the Taleban in Afghanistan, it said.

And it added that the continuing military action has increased the likelihood of terrorist attacks on the scale of 9/11.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/6543479.stm

Published: 2007/04/11 06:59:54 GMT

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