Over the weekend, Wikileaks released 1500 New Zealand-related US diplomatic cables. People have been browsing through them since, and Stuff this morning reports on an interesting one: 09WELLINGTON223: Engaging an MP critic of Afghan combat ops. The critic in question is Green MP Kennedy Graham. The US charge d'affaires David Keegan invited him to lunch, with the explicit purpose of "establish[ing] the beginnings of a warm and respectful relationship with Graham" so as to blunt the Greens' attitude to America's wars. This is apparently part of an ongoing program, which has also included co-leaders Russel Norman (who was given a trip to the US to examine their climate change policy) and Metiria Turei. From the cable, Keegan thought his lobbying of Graham was successful, based on Graham's admission that he "does not always subscribe to the majority view of his party's caucus" and his differences in tone when criticising US policy. I'm not so sure. From the cable:
[Graham] steadfastly, yet evenly, re-asserted that OEF [the US occupation of Afghanistan] presently operates under an imprecise mandate and that only an explicit UN resolution can provide correction. The former NZ and UN diplomat Graham, predictably, proved his internationalist credentials and demonstrated that he is likely to become one of the NZ Parliament's strongest advocates of multilateralism. He underscored his OEF position by arguing that strengthening the rule of international law, through national action as provided for and in the UN Charter, is the most effective way of promoting international and national security for all nations and their peoples.Those views - a strong commitment to human rights and international law - are the real problem for the US given its recent behaviour and desire to make everyone complicit in their crimes. And there is not the slightest indication that they have changed. And while the US may consider it a victory to swap Keith Locke for Graham, I'm not so sure about that either.
Meanwhile, Russel Norman's response to the story leaves a lot to be desired - first "object[ing] to the US cables being handled as if they were truth" (when fellow Green MP Gareth Hughes is doing exactly that) and denying that the US has seduced them. That may be so, but at the same time, the US operates those visitor programs for a purpose, and they expect, on average, to get something out of them. Norman may not like people being reminded of that fact, but it is the truth. And if he didn't want it to sully his reputation as a critic of US policy, then perhaps he shouldn't have gone.
