In the period since the end of the second world war, foreign policy has been the reason for electoral clashes between the right wing and the left wing, between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines and in the worst case which is unfortunately the most common, in accordance with the interests of foreign powers. Little has changed in almost seventy years, considering the clash over Trieste (was it Italian or was it Tito’s?), the invasion of Hungary blessed by the Italian communist party, the missiles in Cuba, the Six Day War between Israel and Egypt, Vietnam, the first and the second war in Iraq. Ideologies and the backrooms of the parties have won out over the national interests and the truth of any happenings and consequently this has led to a lack of credibility in Italy. Untrustworthy, servile and turncoat. Who can place their trust in a Nation that repudiates war in its Constitution, signs a solemn peace treaty with Libya and then drops bombs on it a few months later? Who can believe in the good faith of a State that occupied Iraq on the pretext of weapons of mass destruction that never existed except in Bush’s imagination, and has attacked Afghanistan without any reason and is still keeping troops there? Was bombing Serbia part of a peace-making action by post communist Italians?
After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, NATO has lost its original meaning as a counterweight to the Soviet block, the old empire of evil in Reagan’s thinking. After that, since 1989, Italy has been transformed from a strategic base to a foreign operator at the service of NATO. Enrolled in all the wars, but always with the alibi of a peace-keeping mission. The typical excuse is "If we are part of NATO we have to participate in every war declared as such by NATO. " That’s false. That’s an objection that is contradicted by events. Germany, that is in NATO, did not get into the war against Libya. Article 11 of the Constitution says: ""Italy rejects war as an instrument of aggression against the freedom of other peoples and as a means for the settlement of international disputes; Italy agrees, on conditions of equality with other States, to the limitations of sovereignty that may be necessary to a world order ensuring peace and justice among the Nations. Italy promotes and encourages international organisations furthering such ends." Our foreign policy must stick strictly to the Constitution. Never again are there to be wars favouring the interests of other powers. Never again is there to be a war unless for defence. Our soldiers have to be withdrawn from Afghanistan, where the USA has been negotiating the end of hostilities with the Taliban for more than a year though our news media are not reporting that news. Our soldiers have to be withdrawn from Iraq and from every theatre of war. Our foreign policy must be peace-making, preventing religious or ethnic massacres, reinforcing the United Nations and those wearing blue helmets. Where was the United Nations during the Rwanda genocide or the slaughter at Srebrenica? Collecting daisies from those imposing a veto? And why is it that in the United Nations some are more equal than others and can block a humanitarian intervention? And where are the i blue helmets when Palestine suffers bombing every so often? Intervening to protect the most vulnerable, to avoid massacres, to step between the opposing sides in a war and to provide assistance to civilians: this is the spirit of our Constitution, this must be the basis of our foreign policy.