Is Tony Blair deluded?

[hawki18]

Well Tony leaving office maybe the Uk can follow Spain's lead cave in to terrorist and elect a bunch of commies. I sure hope they don't but not going to hold my breath.

[bbloke]

So, Tony Blair's speech at the party conference is tomorrow (Tuesday), if I am not mistaken... What do people think his reception will be like? Will he be applauded as a successful, outgoing Labour leader? Or will he be seen as a liability, someone who made some catastrophic errors of judgement (eg. the war in Iraq), and divided the party?

My own impression is that he wanted to leave a legacy. I think he wanted to be a successful (Labour) Prime Minister who was in office for a lengthy period and left some sort of mark on world history. I think he gambled when he sided so strongly with George W. Bush, and it backfired, as a lot of people are holding him to account now.

Originally Posted by hawki18

Well Tony leaving office maybe the Uk can follow Spain's lead cave in to terrorist and elect a bunch of commies. I sure hope they don't but not going to hold my breath.

Well, apart from Spain not electing communists to power, the new Spanish PM talking about fighting terrorism, Spain having fought against terrorist groups such as ETA for decades, Spanish troops being present in Afghanistan, the invasion of Iraq having nothing to do with terrorism (if referring to Spain pulling out as caving in) and involvement in Iraq actually resulting in an increase in terrorism, British soldiers being the ones who recently killed a leading member of Al-Qaeda who escaped from US custody, and the UK having a long history of battling with terrorism (eg. the Provisional IRA, which received a lot of US support, by the way)...

[hawki18]

Spain caved and pulled there troops out iraq when they were told to pull out or else we are going to start killing the Spanish hostages! If that is not selling out what is. If this how most counties are going to handle he terroist issue the world is really in trouble.

[Rhisiart]

Originally Posted by hawki18

Spain caved and pulled there troops out iraq when they were told to pull out or else we are going to start killing the Spanish hostages!

What hostages?

[rubaiyat]

Originally Posted by hawki18

Spain caved and pulled there troops out iraq when they were told to pull out or else we are going to start killing the Spanish hostages! If that is not selling out what is. If this how most counties are going to handle he terroist issue the world is really in trouble.

You've run this line before, along with the ludicrous inability to differentiate politics left of Ghenghis Khan.

The previous Spanish Government fell for lying to the public.

Unlike Americans, who love being lied to on all matters.

So to stay on your good side I'll just add that you, a citizen of the gadamn greatest freedom loving nation in the world and the only real democracy, are fantastically sexy, thin, incredibly generous, have excellent taste and are obviously superbly well informed in all matters especially politics and foreign affairs.

[Rhisiart]

Originally Posted by rubaiyat

You've run this line before, along with the ludicrous inability to differentiate politics left of Ghenghis Khan.

The previous Spanish Government fell for lying to the public.

Unlike Americans, who love being lied to on all matters.

So to stay on your good side I'll just add that you, a citizen of the gadamn greatest freedom loving nation in the world and the only real democracy, are fantastically sexy, thin, incredibly generous, have excellent taste and are obviously superbly well informed in all matters especially politics and foreign affairs.

I'm Welsh, not American. And I am fat, not thin. However, I do have excellent taste, I'll grant you that.

It's just that you said that the terrorists would kill Spanish hostages. Where were these hostages? Where were they being held captive?

[spb]

Originally Posted by hawki18

Well Tony leaving office maybe the Uk can follow Spain's lead cave in to terrorist and elect a bunch of commies. I sure hope they don't but not going to hold my breath.

What made the last UK election odd, is that the Labor party is a very left leaning party almost socialist in some regards. The real option for the UK was to move from the Labor party to the Conservatives (remember M. Thatcher).

[spb]

Originally Posted by rhisiart

Is he a Dubya's poodle?

For as often as people talk about T. Blair as a US "lap-dog" I kind of feel that it is the other way around. When the US administration began making a case for war in Iraq I was wary. It was really Blair's speech (does anyone else remember this?) of the and the UK dossier that gave legitimacy to the argument.

Also, since G.W. Bush's election his administration's foreign policy has made a 180 degree turn. He stated in his first campaign that the US does not do, "nation building". After 9/11 this policy changed completely; however, Blair's policy has not. Bush is following Blair not the other way around.

It seems to me that statements of the UK and T. Blair becoming a tool of the US administration is really a rhetorical device to urge citizens of the UK to oppose US policy, not an actual statement of fact. Am I the only one to think this?