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British party warns against
giving US 'blank cheque'

Sanjay Suri in London

Liberal Democrats became the first political force in Britain to sound a clear warning against giving a 'blank cheque' to the US in its war on terrorism, including possible military action in Afghanistan.

The Liberal Democrats, the increasingly powerful third force in British politics after Labour and the Conservatives, have signalled a clear divergence from Prime Minister Tony Blair's headlong support to US military action.

In a speech at the annual party conference in Bournemouth, its leader Charles Kennedy said Britain should back the US as a "candid friend."

"The most special relationships, in my experience, are based on a combination of trust and mutual respect. And as America's candid friend, we are able to say: there are no blank cheques to be issued to the United States," he said.

He saw Britain standing with the US "shoulder to shoulder, but always there for the occasional cautionary tap on the shoulder."

Kennedy said: "War is not the word. Nor is crusade. Resolve is."

"One of our particular duties is to make it clear that short-term knee-jerk responses never provide long-term solutions. The way to defeat international terrorism is through international cooperation, based on international law, clear intelligence and a measured and appropriate military response."

In a warning against any blind committal of British troops to action, Kennedy said: "We have a duty and a responsibility to ensure that where our armed forces are involved, the risks to them are quantified and minimised."

That, he said, meant "supporting American actions only in the knowledge that Britain will be involved in all planning and risk assessment."

Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Paul Keetch went a step further in warning against blindly following the US.

He said the September 11 attacks in the US were unacceptable. "But young children starving in a refugee camp in Afghanistan too is unacceptable, and if we fight we must remember them too.

"Blanket bombing of Afghanistan will achieve nothing, save to make those intent on committing acts of terror all the more desperate and aggressive. If this is the action that anyone intends, then we must counsel against it.

"We may have felt slightly uncomfortable with some of the rhetoric we have heard over the last weeks, but we must remember that actions speak louder than words - and it is actions that we will ultimately have to judge."

US military action against Afghanistan seems a distinct possibility with Kabul refusing to hand over Saudi exile Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the attacks in New York and Washington.

Indo-Asian News Service

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