Robespierre's Warning - Ignored by Bush and Blair

Maximillien Robespierre (1758-94) was one of the leaders of the French Revolution. Most historians portray him as a cold-blooded, murderous monster who launched the Terror against dissenters from the revolutionary path. Perhaps he was a monster, but he was no fool. Consider this quote of his:
"The most extravagant idea that can be born in the head of a political thinker is to believe that it suffices for people to enter, weapons in hand, among a foreign people and expect to have its laws and constitution embraced. No one loves armed missionaries; the first lesson of nature and prudence is to repulse them as enemies." 
What a shame that our political and military leaders did not heed that warning before invading Afghanistan and Iraq! Robespierre made the statement above when some French revolutionaries wanted to spread the revolution by force into neighbouring European countries. Rather like Bush, Blair and their advisers more than 200 years later, the revolutionaries thought their armed incursion would be welcomed by the populations of the Netherlands, Germany, etc. Whatever else Robespierre was, he saw that as highly unlikely to happen, and he was right. The Insurgency in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan are fuelled by the same detestation of foreign invaders that he warned about, so long ago.
We are now being warned by no less a person than Mikhail Gorbachev that the USA should either prepare for withdrawal or another Viet-Nam. Wikileaks has given us horrifying insights into exactly how Coalition forces have conducted the war of liberation in Iraq. A recent "Dispatches" programme on Channel 4 has analysed the raw data from the leaked documents, and found that nearly 67 000 innocent civilians have been killed since the invasion. Which begs the question - how did we get into this mess?

The answer usually begins with talk of "sexed-up dossiers" and "oil revenues". These points are valid, but I think they overlook one personal trait that Bush and Blair have in common: they are both devout Christians. As such, they are used to having their faith "tested" in various ways; their response, like all true believers, is to stay loyal to their faith through all trials and tribulations. This may be admirable, but many religious believers carry their tenacity of belief over into secular areas. Putting it simply - once they make up their minds to do something, they ignore all objections and criticism. Field Marshal Haig, the World War One General now reviled as "Butcher Haig" who sent his men over the top to be slaughtered on the Somme in 1916, is another example of a man of faith who stuck to his ideas (about tactics) in the face of evidence that they were wrong. As for getting out of this quandary - who knows? But let's hope that, next time our leaders plan to go charging into other countries to wage war on terror, someone reminds them of the words of the architect of terror - Maximillien Robespierre: "No-one loves armed missionaries".