The Daily Mail and Tony Blair - Middle East Peace

Daily Mail: Reports the following on Tony Blair, " Crossing the globe on private jets, Tony Blair mixed big business, charity, faith, and politics in a way that many regarded as morally odious. "

Lets Get Real:

Thus the one word that always comes up with Tony Blair is IRAQ, the destruction of the Saddam Hussein was a good development, the post war planning for Iraq was a disaster and Blair should have used his influence with Bush 43 to correct some of the mistakes of the US in Iraq, like dissolving the Army, that caused years of blowback through the killing of US and UK and troops with the help of Iran.   On the other hand US/UK action in Kosovo prevented mass murder, this also showed the good that Blair could do, getting the US in to action to prevent the march of the Serbs.   Also there is the peace deal in Northern Ireland, Mr Blair spent, hours, days, weeks, months, even years on this deal.  Also a good development.   Thus this blog's view of Blair is mixed, a great politician, he did win three elections for Labour, he did take action as mentioned above, but then we come to Iraq, the Western failure to build a strong and united Iraq, and thus the growth of IS, but it should be noted that the growth of Islamic State is down to the Obama Oval, it removed troops in 2011, thus Bush43/Blair set the field for IS but its growth is down to the weakness of President Obama.   This blog hopes history will be kinder to Blair than his present critics allow, at least Blair tried. 

Does Blair still have IT in political terms - Election 2015

Telegraph: Reports " Either Tony Blair is an asset to Labour. In which case the constant attempts to “bury” his legacy were a major strategic own goal. Or he is a liability to Labour. In which case his emergence on the campaign trail his morning is a strategic own goal. "

Lets Get Real:

Lets face political reality, in his day Tony Blair was  a rock star of politics, he did win three elections for Labour, of course IRAQ will always be associated with Blair and the Blair Era, BUT should Iraq make everything else of the Blair Agenda seem negative.  The answer is no of course, there was peace in Northern Ireland, there was Western action in Bosnia and Kosovo, and a great economy for most people in the UK.   The modern Labour Party should learn from Blair, he has always argued up in till know that when Labours goes left it losses, lets see who is right, Blair or Miliband, have UK voters gone left or only in the mind of Miliband. 

The BREAKUP of Iraq - 2nd Term Blues

Telegraph: Reports " Iraq crisis: the country is facing imminent break up say Western diplomats....Western officials say the crisis is 'the real thing' and are concerned that politicians cannot deal with its sheer scale "

Lets Get Real:

It is simple really, the West does not have a Reagan or a Thatcher in power, we have 2nd raters, at the end of the Cold War there was the idea that the World could be managed, well Bosnia and Kosovo showed that was an error, then came 9/11 and the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq,  the West needs bold leadership, Reagan and Thatcher bought down the USSR through morale argument and defence, the USSR ended up in the dustbin, the leaders that followed in the US and UK didn't understand that history in itself does not change, there is always new terrors coming up, the question is can the Western Governments see the problem and deal with it,  the threat form terrorism was seen by the West, but no one saw a 9/11 in New York or a 7/7 in London, thus when those terrors arrived the West was slow and is still slow.    The fault for the present crisis in Iraq is down to President Obama, he withdrew the troops, he still thinks rhetoric is more important than reality, and at the end of the day, its the voter who is to blame, you voted the in, you have to face the results. 

Syrian USE of Chemical Weapons a "moral obscenity" - Secretary Kerry

BBC News: Reports on a very powerful statement by US Secretary of State John Kerry that called the use of chemical weapons by the Assad Regime a morale obscenity. 

Lets Get Real:

Thus folks this blog was wrong, this blogger thought that the Oval would try to get out of taking any action over Syria, well even the ego of this Oval can not over look the use of chemical weapons by the Assad Regime.   No US Secretary of State would make such a powerful statement  without action being the next step, one has to wonder how much pressure the Oval came under by PM Cameron and Secretary Kerry, if the Oval does not take action the Secretary would have to resign, his word would be no good in the international community if after such a statement there was no reaction.   Thus what is the next step folks, well the general feeling is that Kosovo is the example, but one new example as stated on the BBC was that it could be Libya of 1986, when the Reagan Administration did a one shot deal to get rid of Gaddafi.   The question is what will Assad DO after an attack, if clever nothing, on the other hand, an attack on Turkey or Israel would bring in the US in to the Syrian Civil War.   Thus we shall see folks. 

The UK and the Syrian Rebels - Syrian Update

Guardian: Reports that the UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has stated the following about arming the Syrian rebels, " ..no decision made to arm opposition to President Assad, but insists it can be done in containable way  ".

Lets Get Real:

If the US wants the UK to be part of a solution to the Syrian Civil War the Oval will have to lead, Obama, Cameron and President Hollande of France will have to shame the Conservative backbenchers who oppose arming the Syrian rebels because of Iraq and Afghanistan.   This would place the Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party against the Obama Oval and France, that should be enough to force Labour leader Ed Miliband to support the Conservatives, thus the Liberal Democrats will not matter, but for this to work the Oval and President Obama will have to take a major role, the UN gave cover for the UK to take down Gaddafi of Libya, the Russians are not going to give UN cover for any action in Syria, they want to keep their warm water port, thus its real politic time.   Syria is the more complex Bosnia Crisis of the 1990s, but a Assad win could cause a regional disaster, the refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey will not go home if Assad wins and thus causing the prospect that the Kingdom of Jordan could fall, Lebanon could return to Civil War and tensions could develop further in Turkey, a NATO member.  Thus folks the Oval can not lead from behind, its far to late for that folks. 

The Clinton Factor - Syrian Civil War - Syrian Update 3

CNN - Politics: Reports on remarks by former President Bill Clinton, the former President stated that the US should be more active in Syria, these remarks were before the latest developments.

Lets Get Real:

Lets be clear folks, Bill Clinton can not stand President Obama, why should he, the 08 Campaign called him a racist, Bill Clinton is a lot of things, but he is no racist, it has been argued that he was in fact was the first Black President, as he understands and enjoys black culture, thus the race card attack must have hurt, also his wife when she become Secretary of State was not part on the Kitchen Cabinet, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pressed to Oval to take more forceful action in Syria, she did not get her way.   The latest move by the Oval to support the Syrian rebels is down the ground won by the Assad Regime, and the critical reaction of Western allies to the lack of US action, but it would be interesting know how the Oval reacted to a critic of a policy by a former President, a President  who dealt with Bosnia after years of doing nothing, and was marched in to Kosovo by the UK PM Tony Blair, at least Clinton acted, also the Oval must be afraid that the Clinton Camp will start to take political shots at the Oval as way to distance itself from the Oval should Obama's polls tank over the next three years.   Politics at its heart can be quite personal, does President Obama want to make Clinton the wise old man of US Foreign Policy while he seen as weak, another Carter, one has doubts folks. 

The US on Syrian Massacres - Update 2

US State Department: This from the Kerry State Department, " The United States is appalled by horrific reports that more than 100 people were killed May 2 in gruesome attacks on the coastal town of al-Bayda, Syria. Regime and Shabiha forces reportedly destroyed the area with mortar fire then stormed the town and executed entire families, including women and children. We extend our deepest condolences to the families of the victims of this tragedy.

We strongly condemn atrocities against the civilian population and reinforce our solidarity with the Syrian people. As the Assad regime’s violence against innocent civilians escalates, we will not lose sight of the men, women, and children whose lives are being so brutally cut short.

We call on all responsible actors in Syria to speak out against the perpetration of unlawful killings against any group, regardless of faith or ethnicity. Those responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law and serious violations and abuses of human rights law must be held accountable. ".

Lets Get Real:

In other words the US will DO NOTING, its Bosnia all over again, weak leaders who are more interested in keeping their polls up, thousands will die because Obama, Cameron will not act, they will only act if Assad kills thousands more of his own people with WMD, is the soul of the West so weak and corrupt that it can no longer do the right thing without the right poll, SHAME ON THE WEST.   At least President Clinton and PM Tony Blair acted, they were leaders, they had backbone, more than the present wimps in power. 

The Special Relationship, BBC 2 9.30pm Tonight

The New York Times: The Special Relationship was shown in the US a few months ago, here the liberal NYT review of the programme. Tony Blair is not that popular with the liberal New York Times, thus his faults are seen with staring with his push for ground troops in Kosovo, thus his close relationship with another hated figure by the extreme liberal NYT, have a guess?, yes Bush 43. Mr Blair will have to accept that the media elite in both the US and the UK will never forgive him for Iraq, Bush 43 in a odd way gets away with it, Bush is Bush, never hid the fact that he was not a liberal. The right will always defend Bush 43, when it’s a choice of Obama or Bush 43 this blog will always argue for Bush 43, flawed but so was LBJ, didn’t make them not good Presidents. While Tony Blair does not have the left, and the right thought he spent to much on the public sector, thus the present economic problems in the UK. Thus Iraq was a Blair choice, he was given a get out clause by Bush 43, he didn’t take it, thus the former PM will have to live with the consequences.

Here Gone tomorrow Politician!

Alastair Campbell Blog: AC is defending Tony Blair again over his visit to Kosovo, the master spin is has his back up over the lack of UK press interest in the visit by ex PM Blair to Kosovo, Mr Campbell writes the following sarcastic remark, “ Tony, you know that Iraq is the only country you had anything to do with ”. Yes to give Mr Blair his due he was part of the solution to the Northern Ireland troubles and saved the people of Kosovo, but at the end of the day he was another Eden, the UK has been thrown out of Iraq for a second time, the War in Afghanistan is not going well, the economy left by Labour is in the toilet. Its about time AC saw that in many respects he was part of the problem for Mr Blair. It can be postulated that in the future when you think of Mr Blair you will think of Iraq and the post failure planning after the War. Also Mr Blair left the UK with Gordon Brown, that was beyond the pale.