{"id":1724,"date":"2003-09-22T14:15:00","date_gmt":"2003-09-22T18:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.meehawl.com\/Blogfiles-wp\/?p=1724"},"modified":"2003-09-22T14:15:00","modified_gmt":"2003-09-22T18:15:00","slug":"who-will-rid-me-of-these-troublesome-swedes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meehawl.com\/Blogfiles\/2003\/09\/22\/14\/15\/who-will-rid-me-of-these-troublesome-swedes\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Will Rid Me Of These Troublesome Swedes?"},"content":{"rendered":"

So I was wondering why, almost alone amongst “civilised” nations, the US somehow managed to avoid having its Head of State directly condemn the slaughter of Sweden’s Foreign Minister, Anna Lindh. Instead they produced a sparse, sotto voce<\/i> press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During Sweden’s EU presidency she described the US president, George Bush, as a “lone ranger” for his decision to invade Iraq without UN approval … She was also an outspoken critic of Israeli policy under Ariel Sharon. In the same interview, given to the Times of India, she said it made “no sense to have a dialogue with Sharon’s government”. She added: “Our stand is firm and clear: Israeli settlements on the West Bank must go; there must be a Palestinian state; Israel must vacate occupied areas on the West Bank and Gaza Strip; and end all extra-territorial executions and attacks on Palestinians. This should be done immediately.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/a>The Swedes have had bad luck with politicians. Their former Prime Minister Olof Palme was assassinated<\/a> by unknown assailants back in the 1980s. The smart money pins this on the South African apartheid regime<\/a>. Assasination freaks<\/a> are having a field day with Anna Lindh, especially in Lebanon, where they have some degree of experience with political assassinations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At an EU foreign ministers\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd meeting in Italy two days before Lindh was murdered, she blamed the US and Israel for the resignation of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. Lindh said: \u00ef\u00bf\u00bdAbbas was given the kiss of death when the US and Israel decided to deal only with him and not with \u00ef\u00bf\u00bd Arafat.\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd She noted Israel\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds expansion of settlements, building a wall around Palestinian areas and assassination of Hamas leaders were undermining the peace process.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So I was wondering why, almost alone amongst “civilised” nations, the US somehow managed to avoid having its Head of State directly condemn the slaughter of Sweden’s Foreign Minister, Anna Lindh. Instead they produced...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t