Reply #56: I don't oppose liberal reform in the mideast. I would be delighted by it.

[LeftishBrit]

I do not know what you mean when you say I 'favour those who are against real liberal reform over those who are genuinely for it'. I am unalterably opposed to the war in Iraq, and in general opposed to military intervention except under the most extreme circumstances - if that's what you mean. But certainly, I am a great fan of people like Nusseibeh and Hanania.

But I will NEVER support anyone who for example prefers the Republicans to the Democrats in America, regardless of their attitudes to ME politics, at either extreme (Rubin or Ron Paul). The contemporary Republican politicians in America are evil personified, as are the more right-wing Tories in Britain.

In general, unless someone is in a position where they have direct influence on another country, I think their attitudes to politics in their own country are more crucial than those to other countries. In the UK, if I had the stark choice between a generally progressive Labour politician (this doesn't include Blair) who had voted for the war in Iraq and a generally right-wing Tory who had voted against it, I would reluctantly but definitely vote for the Labourite.