Tony Blair and Iraq - The Iraq War

Mail on Sunday: Reports " A bombshell White House memo has revealed for the first time details of the ‘deal in blood’ forged by Tony Blair and George Bush over the Iraq War.

The sensational leak shows that Blair had given an unqualified pledge to sign up to the conflict a year before the invasion started.

It flies in the face of the Prime Minister’s public claims at the time that he was seeking a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

He told voters: ‘We’re not proposing military action’ – in direct contrast to what the secret email now reveals.  "

Lets Get Real:

The UK press will never forgive Tony Blair for Iraq, its the one way to get at him, its like Nixon with Watergate, the good parts of the era's are overlooked for some scandal, as with Watergate  the press attacks on Blair are unfair, the perceived threats from Iraq were real, the US and UK after 9/11 had to act, of course if the Iraqi Regime had been 100% honest there would have been no reason for the War, as the regime played Russian Roulette it forgot that there was a bullet in the gun, their half truths lead to the War.   The decision to go to war was the right one given the information at the time, so this blog still supports Blair and the War. 

Further Arrests in London Terror Attack

BBC News Live - London: Has breaking news, two more people have been arrested in connection with the London terror attack, a man and a woman both 29 have been arrested on the grounds of suspicion of conspiracy to Murder. 

Lets Get Real:

It is early in the investigation folks, the BBC web site states that the first two terrorists arrested at the murder were known to MI5, thus the question will be asked why did NOT MI5 or Special Branch pick up these two suspects, they are in the Court process and prevent this savage and horrific attack and murder, were these terrorists/suspects lone wolfs, they were not clean skins are they were on the radar, thus these new arrests could mean that there is a wider terror threat and that the terrorists have changed from using bombs to using other Al Qaeda methods to kill and to cause terror within civic society.    The old Al Qaeda structure was destroyed by the Bush/Obama polices in Afghanistan and Iraq, thus we have seen franchise groups develop as those in Africa, and suspected lone wolfs in Boston, of course the Boston case is still open and has a strong Russian connection.  The Police and the Security Services have been very successful in preventing another 7/7, that luck was bound to fail sooner or later, lets hope we do not have any more days like yesterday and today folks, lets our thoughts be with the family and friends of the victim, if we give the terrorists to much PR they win, lets not give them that media air. 

PM Cameron on London Terror Attack

No 10: Statement by the UK PM David Cameron on the killing of a UK Soldier yesterday.  The Speech in full: " What happened yesterday in Woolwich has sickened us all.

On our televisions last night – and in our newspapers this morning – we have all seen images that are deeply shocking.

The people who did this were trying to divide us.

They should know: something like this will only bring us together and make us stronger.

Today our thoughts are with the victim – and with his family.

They are grieving for a loved one…

And we have lost a brave soldier.

COBRA

This morning I have chaired a meeting of COBRA.

And I want to thank the police and security services for the incredible work they do to keep our country safe.

There are police investigations and security service operations underway – so obviously there is a limit on what I can say.

But already a number of things are clear.

First, this country will be absolutely resolute in its stand against violent extremism and terror.

We will never give in to terror – or terrorism - in any of its forms.

Second, this view is shared by every community in our country.

This was not just an attack on Britain – and on our British way of life.

It was also a betrayal of Islam – and of the Muslim communities who are give so much to our country.

There is nothing in Islam that justifies this truly dreadful act.

We will defeat violent extremism by standing together…

…by backing our police and security services…

…and above all by challenging the poisonous narrative of extremism on which this violence feeds.

Britain works with our international partners to make the world safe from terrorism.

Terrorism that has taken more Muslim lives than any other religion.

It is an utter perversion of the truth to pretend anything different.

That is why there is absolutely no justification for these acts…

…and the fault for them lies solely and purely with the sickening individuals who carried out this appalling attack.

Confronting extremism is a job for us all.

And the fact that our communities will unite in doing this was vividly demonstrated…

…by the brave cub pack leader - Ingrid Loyau-Kennett - who confronted one of the attackers on the streets of Woolwich yesterday afternoon.

When told by the attacker that he wanted to start a war in London…

…she replied “You’re going to lose. It’s only you versus many.”

She spoke for us all.

Security services

The Police and Security Services will follow every lead…

…turn over every piece of evidence…

…make every connection…

…and will not rest until we know every single detail of what happened and we’ve brought all of those responsible to justice.

I know from three years as being Prime Minister that the police and intelligence agencies work around the clock to keep us safe from violent extremists.

I watch their work every week. They do an outstanding job.

They show incredible heroism, much of which can not be reported.

They have my staunch support and the support of the whole country.

The point that the two suspects in this horrific attack were known to the Security services has been widely reported.

You would not expect me to comment on this when a criminal investigation is ongoing.

But what I can say is this.

As is the normal practice in these sorts of cases, the Independent Police Complaints Commission will be able to review the actions of the police and the Intelligence and Security Committee will be able to do the same for the wider agencies.

But nothing should be done to get in the way of their absolutely vital work.

After an event like this, it is natural that questions will be asked about what additional steps can be taken to keep us safe.

I will make sure those questions are asked and answered.

But I not in favour of knee-jerk responses.

The Police have responded with heightened security and activity – and that is right.

But one of the best ways of defeating terrorism is to go about our normal lives

And that is what we shall all do. "

Lets Get Real:

This was a fine speech and the PM spoke for all those that support a liberal democracy with tolerance to ALL, and the respect for law and order.   It has been estimated by the experts that the War against Al Qaeda supporters and franchise groups could last for over 20 years, thus folks the incident yesterday might not be the last folks.  The importance this is not to allow the terrorists to win, if we change who we are or take negative actions that cause harm to different cultures then they win, we are British after all, we gave the modern world a liberal democratic system. 

Terror Victim named - London Terror Attack

MOD: Has released the name of the UK Soldier that was murdered yesterday in London by Islamic terrorists, the Soldier was " Drummer Lee Rigby of 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (attached to the Regimental Recruiting Team in London). ".  Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Drummer Rigby. 

London TERROR Attack - 22/5/2013

BBC News: Reports in its 7.11pm posting that ITV has shown one of the terrorist  attackers speaking after the attacks.  It should be noted that the BBC has also shown the footage. 

Lets Get Real:

This blog is not normally shocked folks, but both ITV and BBC News showed this footage, the terrorist had blood on his hands, there is something to be said for considering the family and friends of the dead Soldier, would it not have been better to show this footage after a few days, allow the thoughts of the UK to be on the dead Soldier and not his murders.   Developing story folks. 

Terror Attack in London

Telegraph Live - Terror Attack: Reports on the terror attack on a UK Soldier  in London, the articles notes the following on the attack, " 'Soldier beheaded' in Woolwich machete attack.. ".

Lets Get Real: 

This was a savage and brutal terrorist  attack, from reports the terrorists first attacked the Soldier with a car then with knifes etc, after the Boston Bombing one should not be surprised but the vile nature of the attack has taken this blogger back a bit, that something like that can happen on a London Street, just short of a military base.  It is early yet, but the authorities are treating this attack as a terrorist attack, as the terrorists were of Muslim origins and shouted God is Great after the attack.   It will be interesting to see folks if the the terrorists were on the Government radar, were they clean skins, as in not having done anything before when it came to terrorism.  This is a developing story folks, our thoughts are with the family and friends of the dead Soldier, still hard to taken in folks, the threat never goes away. 

Iraq War 10 Years on - Tony Blair Era

BBC News: Reports that John Prescott, now Lord Prescott, the then DPM to PM Tony Blair has stated that the Iraq War can not be justified.

Lets Get Real:

They say the past is a Foreign Country folks, dim memories merged, edges merged and connected and distorted, it seems hard to think of the adoring crowds that welcomed the election of Tony Blair and New Labour in 1997.   If you say Tony Blair now the direct connection is Iraq, not his part in the Northern Ireland Peace deal, very much like if you say Richard Nixon to older Americans they say Watergate, not the opening up of China in the early 1970s.   And lets recall non one died in Watergate, the left wing press always say that Blair lied the UK in to the War, this is not true, how every much you want it to be true, the intelligence from MI6  and other intelligence networks stated that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, also it should be noted that Blair won the 2005 election, thus the people gave their verdict.  One can that Tony Blair should have support from those that supported the War at the time, otherwise it looks like you covering your own backside, harsh but true folks. 

MI6/CIA and Rendition

Telegraph: Reports on a joint MI6/CIA rendition operation that sent a present Libyan rebel back to Libya to be tortured by the Gaddafi Regime. All these close contacts between the UK Government and the Gaddafi Regime was a massive mistake, the biggest PR problem for the then PM Tony Blair is his visit to Libya in 2007. Its was one thing to get Gaddafi off the road to becoming a nuclear power, its quite another securing the Regime. Lets recall terrorists attacks of 2001 in the US and 2005 in the UK effected the normal judgements but sometimes you need to breath and think, is this good in the long term, also is this good politics, both answers when it comes to Libya is NO.

The Grade on Balls

Guardian: An interesting article in the left wing Guardian on the Balls scandal, the article states the following on Balls “ For all his energy and intelligence, the bullying strain still shines through and it troubles some of Ed Miliband's advisers. ”. If your Ed Miliband you have to ask how much of political liability is Ed Balls, does his history make him past his sell date with Labour and the voter. All this plotting from 2005 brings back all the bad memories of the feud between Blair and Brown, how much they could have achieved if they had worked together, in many respects like LBJ and RFK in the late 1960s. Lets be honest Ed Miliband is looking to get his brother David back in to the Shadow Cabinet, what about sacking Ed Balls.

Civil War in Labour, Miliband vs. The Dark Prince

Mail on Sunday: Reports on the war of words between Ed Miliband and the Dark Prince Lord Mandelson, it seems that the Dark Prince I not happy that “ Brutus “ Miliband told him in essence to take himself off to an old peoples home. The Dark Prince one of the founders of New Labour does not want to his creation thrown in to the bin, it can be argued that New Labour as an election machine was top rate, it won three elections, but the question that Labour has to ask after Iraq is New Labour a negative or a positive. It can be argued that New Labour works with the right leader, thus Tony Blair won the 2005 Election even with Iraq front and centre. The question that Labour has to ask is Ed Miliband the right leader to be the successor to New Labour, if the answer is NO then they have to get rid of him and get his brother David Miliband in as the new leader, lets recall D Miliband did win the majority of MPs and of Labour supporters, E Miliband only won due to the Trade Unions. Lets hope Labour does not make the same mistake as they did with Gordon Brown, they could have gotten rid of him but decided to go down with the ship thus the defeat in 2010.

Brown Indirect ATTACK on Tony Blair

Telegraph: Reports on an indirect political attack on Tony Blair by his successor Gordon Brown, the former PM was critical of leaders who broke their promise to step down after two terms. The Blair Camp would argue that Tony Blair was quite willing to step down before the 2005 election as long as his Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown followed through with the New Labour Agenda of Tony Blair. The argument between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown comes down to a disagreement on a promise by Tony Blair to step down as long as Gordon Brown followed through with the New Labour Agenda, by 2005 it was clear to then PM Tony Blair that he could not trust Brown to follow through on reform thus his decision to run in 2005. Both men heard different things, Blair heard a promise to carry on his Agenda while Brown heard the promise to step down, neither side in the end heard each other, they heard what was important to them and their camps.

The Ed Miliband Years

In modern politics; in the TV age; you have to have IT, this is defined as STAR power, in recent elections in the US that IT was President Obama, in the past it was JFK and Reagan. The reason for this post is the fact that Ed Miliband is the new Labour Leader and he does not have IT, in 1994 when Tony Blair was elected he had IT, and lets be honest up to Iraq and even after he still had that appeal, he did win the 2005 election after all, its only of late that the elite in the media and politics has turned on Blair. It can argued that neither Obama or Blair have aged well, Reagan looked great at the end of his Presidency, his predecessor Jimmy Carter looked old in 1980. That is the fickle age folks, one minute a rock star, then please get out of the way and let the door hit you on the way out for good measure. Also how can Ed Miliband ask the UK voter to TRUST him when he has just stabbed his own brother in the back, it might be the norm in the Labour Party and Labour Party voters but its not the norm to the rest of the electorate. There is a classic example of this, when Obama threw his white ill grandmother under the bus by stating she had perceived racist views to save his black racist and left wing Pastor, the elite media thought he was honest and fawned over him ( the elite media in the US are parental racist, thus its okay for an African - American to be racist but not a white working class guy. Lets be clear racism is WRONG, colour, white, black, brown, does not matter, is the character that counts, and when it fails its about the person ), but Obama’s poll ratings have gone down the toilet ( due to the fact that he ran as a moderate but has turned out to be a extreme liberal, you seen trust folks, once you lose that voter looks at your character on the whole, as noted above Obama crossed a line with his denouement of his grandmother, to protect a Pastor that had got him up the ladder in Chicago politics ) , one of the reasons is that Obama was WRONG, there are some lines you don’t cross, and throwing blood over the cliff is wrong with the exception if they break the law, armed robbery you get the idea! Thus what Ed Miliband has done with cost him, Labour cant see that, what lesson does that send out to families, its okay it seems in the nuclear family to sabotage family members, destroy their careers in many respects, think about that! Thus if Ed Miliband will stab his brother in the back can he be trusted not to stab the VOTER or the COUNTRY in the back ( the tea party in US is based on the idea that Washington D.C under the Democrats and Obama have spent the US in to ruin), something things are more important than politics.
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　

Guardian Exclusive - Blair on Brown = Disaster

Guardian: Reports on its exclusive interview with the former Labour PM Tony Blair, the former PM states that he knew that Mr Brown would be a disaster as PM due to his flawed character and his selling out of New Labour. One can hear the muffled cries of NO from ex Labour PM Gordon Brown in Scotland tonight, so far he has been stabbed in the back by Lord Mandelson and in the front by Tony Blair. One has to wonder how New Labour ever won three elections, the London Media must have been asleep at the wheel to allow these flawed characters to gain power. The memoirs of Tony Blair will really focus the mind of Labour members, do they support the heir of Tony Blair in the shape of David Miliband or do they go down the Gordon Brown route with Ed Miliband, the old New Labour founders are not going down without a fight, my money is on Blair and Mandelson.
　

The Dark Prince vs. Ed Miliband

BBC News: Reports on a not so veiled attack by Lord Mandelson on Ed Miliband, a contender for the Labour Leadership, the Dark Prince stated that in essence that Ed Miliband would be a disaster for Labour as he wants to take it back to a pre New Labour age, in other words higher taxes and Union power. It is surprising that the Dark Prince has take so long to get in to the fight, this blog of late has been on the attack when it comes to Ed Miliband, what ever you think of the Blair/Brown age they did bring Labour in to power and the winning of three elections. The election of Ed Miliband would be a disaster for Labour, it would show that New Labour was a fake, once Labour was out of power and not in the running for power it returned to its comfort zone, a extreme left wing Party, of higher taxes and giving the Unions the power to bring the Country to a stand still. If you support and want a Labour Government in the future support David Miliband, otherwise expect years in Opposition.

Memoirs of Tony Blair

Telegraph: Reviews the forthcoming memoirs of Tony Blair. The one question Mr Blair must answer is why he didn’t sack Gordon Brown when Brown blocked him on his domestic reforms, and when he had the chance after 2005 General Election he didn’t move Brown or sack him. This will be the test of the Blair memoirs, will he be as honest as Lord Mandelson.

Peter’s SPINNING - The Dark Prince Lord Mandelson

The Daily Mail: Reports on remarks by Lord Peter Mandelson on his book and the Labour Party, Lord Mandelson has stated that his book is flattering about ex PM’s Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. NO, NO NO, Lord Mandelson, it’s the truth about New Labour but its not flattering, it shows a bunch of egomaniacs that you would not allow to take your dog for a walk, with the Mandelson memoir and the Campbell Diaries you have Gordon Brown brooding and plotting over the succession of Tony Blair between 1994 - 2007, Tony Blair never really standing up to Gordon Brown, guilty about taking the PRIZE from him, then you have Peter Mandelson and Gordon Brown at daggers drawn, the Deputy Leader John Prescott not being kept informed, then you have internal Scottish Wars between Gordon Brown and the late Robin Cook. But this is the important point folks the Memoir of Lord Mandelson is a page turner as in the Alastair Campbell Diaries, lets hope Tony Blair has taken this in account for his book, you have to want to turn the page, lets recall this blog is quite Conservative.

Gordon Brown = Lord Byron and a Mafia Don ?

Guardian: Reports on more revelations form the Dark Prince Lord Mandelson, the Guardian reports that the ex UK PM Tony Blair stated that his successor was mad, bad etc, but it can be postulated without the writing qualities of Lord Byron and the threatening manner of a Mafia Don, didn’t hear about any horses head in 10 Downing Street. Have to admit this does sound over the top even for New Labour, but on other hand can you see Lady Thatcher putting up with Gordon Brown for a day never mind 10 years. This blog is still waiting to hear why Tony Blair didn’t sack Gordon Brown when he had the chance in 2005, yes Brown would have caused massive problems on the backbenches but at lest it would have been Blair ‘s Government, was Mr Blair afraid that he would share the same fate as Lady Thatcher when she got rid of her opposition. How New Labour every won three elections will be mystery to this blog for many a year, on the whole a bunch of ego maniacs with no self discipline and then there is the Iraq War, what more can you say about New Labour.

The Feud that would NEVER Die !

Telegraph: Reports on comments by the former Labour Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, Lord Mandelson states that the former Labour PM Tony Blair had to do battle with his Chancellor and future successor Gordon Brown from the moment Mr Brown made way for Tony Blair to be elected leader to his departure in 2007. This is not breaking news, the Alastair Campbell Diaries show a brooding Gordon Brow, also the constant view that Lord Mandelson was up to something and how Tony Blair had to deal with these over the top egos. One at times feels sorry for Tony Blair, why he didn’t sack Gordon Brown in 2005 after the General Election is the one issue that remains a mystery in till the next book by Mr Campbell.

The Sun Poll - 6pt Conservative Lead

The Sun: Has a daily tracking poll for the UK 2010 Election, this poll also has the Conservative Party on a 6pt lead over the Labour Party, in this poll the Conservatives have 39%, the Labour Party 33% and the Liberal Democrats on 20%. As we have seen with the Guardian Poll the Parties are within two percent of 37% - 39% for the Conservative Party and 31% - 33% for the Labour Party, the LibDems are stuck on 20%. Thus for the Conservatives to get a 1 set majority in the House of Commons they need a swing of 6.9%, more than Tony Blair got in 1997. The question that has to be asked is the Guardian right that the Conservative Party has not secured that deal with the UK voter, it really depends if you trust the polls, or more correctif you trust the UK voter to be honest with those asking the questions, one only has to recall 1992, everyone thought it was Labour shoe in, well John Major won with a 21 seat majority, thus Major and the Conservatives stayed in power in till 1997 and the arrival of Tony Blair. The 1997, 2001, and 2005 elections one knew who was going to win well before the election was called, and it was not the Conservative Party, this blogger will wait in till closer to May 6th before making a final prediction on share count and the seats in the House of Commons. There will be a lot of polls before the end folks, this blogger wont be going through them all; HAIL, I hear you shout; but if there is trend will point them out, such as both the Conservative Sun and the Labour Guardian both have the Tory Party with a six point lead, not enough for a Commons majority but a Hung Parliament, what fun that will be folks.