Tuesday 25 September 2007

Hopeful words?

I've just read the BBC news item about UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband's speech at the Labour party conference in which he said:
"... while we've won the wars it's been harder to win the peace.
"The lesson is that while there are military victories there never is a military 'solution'. [my emphasis added]
"There's only military action that creates the space for economic and political life."

I will be very interested to know what his colleagues in the Government have to say on this matter. And if they agree, whether this statement means anything in practice. I can't quite see the use of Trident nuclear weapons as a particularly useful tool for creating 'space for economic and political life' - any thoughts on how that might work?!
And if there is government unity behind these sentiments, what are the non-military solutions that the UK will now be investing in, given that it has realised the limits of militarism as a tool for building peace? Do you think we might be told?