Hague, William  Telegraph

[A Telegraph classic, one from the Political Mafia to go alongside it's Medical Mafia one here.  Here is our Israel proxy with considerable body count (Iraq, Libya, and 'no plans to arm Syria rebels', which means they are doing it covertly), and spouting give away Mafia propaganda on Al-Qaeda and Somalia, and laying the groundwork for bombing Iran: The threat from Iran is more imminent (see Mossad practicing its motto in bomb plots & U.S. Ambassador to Syria in charge of recruiting Arab/Muslim death squads).]

William Hague: our man in a crisis, wherever it may be

William Hague’s aides speak in reverential tones of his remarkable stamina. “He’s like the Duracell bunny, he never stops,” says one.

William Hague will continue his mission to restore British diplomacy to its full strength, one might even say its imperial glory Photo: PAUL GROVER

11:00PM GMT 17 Feb 2012 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9089999/William-Hague-our-man-in-a-crisis-wherever-it-may-be.html
 

This month he clocked up his 50th country since he came to office, on what has been a remorseless global tour to expand British diplomacy to places that were previously neglected or even ignored altogether. He returned from South Africa a few hours before we meet, leaving himself scarcely time to stock up on clean shirts before heading off for yesterday’s Franco-British summit in Paris. After that there’s Tunisia and goodness know where else. He recently visited Mauritania, a country that had never seen one of Her Majesty’s ministers in the 50-odd years since its independence. One can almost imagine Mr Hague studying a map in his vast corner office to find uncharted, exotic places to explore like some sort of Victorian collector.
 
A few weeks ago he was in Mogadishu, a place most politicians consider too dangerous to trouble with. Somalia is notorious as a graveyard of American foreign policy, and more recently as a haven for pirates, kidnap gangs and Islamist groups inspired by al-Qaeda. Next week the Foreign Secretary will host an international conference in London bringing together some 40 nations as well as institutions including the African Union, to put together a rescue plan for the failed state. He is pursuing this project as an example of what is now referred to as Britain’s “expeditionary diplomacy”, which tries to head off problems before they arise.
 
Somalia has attracted would-be jihadists from Britain, he says, so it poses a direct threat to our security. “Al-Qaeda globally have suffered a lot of setbacks but they are trying to get a foothold in new places, and to use Somalia as a base to try and attack the western world,” he explains. “We mustn’t let that happen. Such people have to be isolated…with a ramping up of intelligence and law enforcement co-operation in that region. That directly affects the security of people in the UK. That’s why we are so heavily engaged in Somalia. We are trying to prevent terrorism taking a stronger hold in another part of the world.”
 
The threat from Iran is more imminent, and dominates his in-tray. The confrontation escalates steadily by the day. His assessment is stark: a world crisis appears inevitable. An international effort is being made to impose oil sanctions, and Mr Hague professes firm belief in the effectiveness of a twin track policy based on sanctions and negotiations. He advises against reading too much into the blood-curling speeches coming from Tehran, and instead points to the evidence: Iran is in breach of 11 separate resolutions from the International Atomic Energy Agency, and this week was found to have sent hit squads to Thailand to murder Israeli diplomats.
 
Israel in turn is widely suspected to be behind a ruthless and highly effective covert war against Iran’s nascent nuclear weapons industry, using assassination and cyber-strikes. Surely this must be a useful way of keeping up the pressure on Iran? The West may privately applaud the way Iran is being harried by its greatest enemy, but publicly Mr Hague condemns the attacks. “We do not take part in such things,” he says. “We always condemn such killings, including the attacks that have taken place this week against Israeli targets. The way forward is peaceful, but intense diplomatic pressure.” What about military action? Experts suggest that the window of opportunity for a strike against Iran’s nuclear programme is closing fast because Iran is rapidly transferring its facilities to deep underground bunkers invulnerable to outside attack. Israel has pointed out that a nuclear-armed Iran would pose an immediate existential threat to the Jewish state. The odds of pre-emptive unilateral action from Tel Aviv are shortening by the day. Senior sources say Britain has made plain to Israel its objections to such a move, which Mr Hague says would have “enormous downsides”. He won’t say outright what he has told the Israelis, but he explains: “We say to all concerned, including Israel, that our policy is sanctions and negotiations. We are not favouring the idea of anybody attacking Iran at the moment.”