Even the moderates here in Pakistan are outraged by Jemima Khan The Age 4:40pm 5th Apr, 2003   April 5 2003: Britain loses all Credibility.    Even the moderates here in Pakistan are outraged. Young and old, poor and rich, fundamentalist and secularist are united in their hatred of the US and their contempt for Britain. Such unprecedented unanimity in a country renowned for its ethnic and sectarian divides is a huge achievement. Qazi Hussein Ahmed, leader of the combined religious party Majlis Muttahida Amal, announced triumphantly: "The pro-West liberals have lost conviction. Islamic movements have come alive."    This newfound unity, which includes for the first time the pro-West liberal middle classes and the mullahs, has been boosted by a fear that Pakistan may be on the US target list. We may not be seeing burning effigies of Bush and Blair daily, but many of those with Western connections are considering severing those links.    Angry and fearful, expatriate Pakistanis are returning home. The boycott against British and US goods is growing. The same is happening throughout the Muslim world, which is uniting against a perceived common foe, leaving the fundamentalists jubilant and their pro-West leaders, despite their dependence on the US, with no choice but to join the anti-war chorus.    Bush and Blair have shown that they care little about world opinion, but what about when those feelings of resentment towards the US and Britain in Muslim countries translate into votes for virulently anti-Western fundamentalist parties? Despite their disingenuous talk of freedom and democracy, Bush and Blair must know that bringing true democracies to the Middle East, and the Muslim world, will have the opposite effect. It is unlikely that any democratic Muslim country today will ever elect a pro-Western government.    Pakistan is a good example. Popular anger at the Government's co-operation with America's bombing of Afghanistan (its provision of bases and intelligence) led to an unprecedented victory of the religious parties in the October 2002 election. Having never won more than 10 seats in the past 30 years, the alliance of Islamic parties is now the second biggest party in Parliament, with 70 seats.    As a dual national of Pakistan and Britain, it is the loss of British credibility in the eyes of the world that I find hardest to stomach. The only thing that tempers my own rage and shame is the knowledge that there are millions like me who oppose war in Iraq not because they are Muslims or appeasers or anti-American or left-wing, but simply because they remain utterly unconvinced by the arguments put forward for war. Instead, many are asking the question: which country is really in need of regime change and, in the words of the great statesman Nelson Mandela, is "the greatest threat to world peace"?    Jemima Khan, nee Jemima Goldsmith, is the wife of Pakistani politician and former cricket captain Imran Khan. Visit the related web page
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