When i heard that Tony Blair was being touted as a Peace Envoy to the Middle East, i of course, laughed it off as a joke. The same kind of joke along the lines of an arsonist being put in charge of the matches or Marion Jones made chief of Olympic Drug testing.
When it turned out his old pal George Bush had put him up for it, it all made perfect sense. Only these two could be so far removed from reality to think that Blair, of all people, had any credibility in a Middle East that they jointly razed to the ground.
With the possible exception of Israel that Blair has slavishly followed America on, Blair is viewed as the minor partner in causing the devastation engulfing that part of the World.
During the Lebanon war last year, Blair stood alongside with the US and Israel in resisting a ceasefire while bombs rained down on Southern Lebanon. Lest we forget the debacle in Iraq, the baiting of Iran and Syria, the support for the repressive Saudi regime and failing to offer any succour to the Palestinian people forcibly held down by their more powerful neighbour.
Any chances Blair had of being taken seriously once he leaves power went up the chute the first time he rolled over to have his belly tickled by the most globally unpopular American President ever.
9 comments:
Well I guess he has to do something... although you're right, 'Peace Envoy to the Middle East' doesn't exactly seem like a natural fit.
I see the news this morning is that he's converting to Catholicism (Ha! Cherie's finally ground down his wussy Anglican soul)... so... maybe he can now devote his life to 'ministering' to people in the Third World? Doing the old Mother Teresa thing?
Y'know, like washing people's feet and slopping out the lepers...
More like taking their condoms away....
"the most globally unpopular American President ever."
This may or may not be true, but I can say, that as much as Bush is disliked from the left and the right here in this country, we Americans tend to be a bunch of self centered bastards, and really don't care very much what the rest of the world thinks of our elected leaders.
Otter: He can't do that do that to our pledges.
Boon: Only we can do that to our pledges.
Animal House, 1978
Cody: I completely agree with you here. If I was American, I reckon I wouldn't give two hoots about the derision and contempt with which my President was beheld around the rest of the globe*. In fact, if I liked him to begin with, then the disapproval of the rest of the world would probably only serve to consolidate my own positive opinion about the Prez.
That's why I thought that what the Guardian newspaper did during the last US Presidential election campaign was a very stupid idea. They mobilised some of their readers to write to voters in 'swing seats', to try to persuade them to cast anti-Bush votes... I remember that my manager at my last job got involved in this. I tried to counsel him that this would be a profoundly counter-productive thing to do... and that we ourselves would - rightly - resent people doing a similar thing to us... but he wouldn't listen unfortunately.**
* But the fact that he's a dangerous Neocon putz on the other hand, now that would bother me...
** This isn't to say, of course, that people who aren't Americans should not be able to voice their opinion about the leader of the world's one remaining superpower. It's a very interlinked world we're living in these days, so everyone's lives are affected by the current global 'temperature' - which can be (and is) affected by the US President in very obvious ways... But I think it's important that this opprobrium gets voiced in intelligent, constructive ways.
Cody is right about how Americans tend to feel, but I also think that it takes a damn big pile of hubris for us not to care what the world thinks when we constantly refer to him as "the leader of the free world."
Perhaps that many Americans feel that way suggests an unfortunate degree of misplaced arrogance (or is it ignorance?).
I am ashamed of Howard, the Australian Prime Minister and a Bush sycophant, and freely admit it. To do otherwise would be silly!
Do you represent the feelings of the entire populace? I've expressed the same feelings for Bush over and over, but my attitude alone doesn't make Cody's statement about Americans in general untrue.
What, that they are a bunch of self-centred bastards?
Most of the people who comment on my blog are Americans and the above description doesn't fit them at all. But they are in the minority.
Do I represent the feelings of the entire population? Silly question.
Cheers!
During the Lebanon war last year, Blair stood alongside with the US and Israel in resisting a ceasefire while bombs rained down on Southern Lebanon.
Do you mean the war that was caused by the terrorist group that attacked Israel. Or have you forgotten the thousands of missiles that rained down upon Israel.
Your comment is exceptionally one sided. I am not claiming now nor have I ever claimed that Israeli is infallible or without blame, but surely you can see how someone would question your objectivity.
the most globally unpopular American President ever.
I don't like Bush very much at all, but this is the sort of throw away comment that really is meaningless.
How do you measure such a thing? You can't really do it without confining it to the Internet age.
Just for kicks let's call it the past 12 years. That means that Bush is the least popular out of two presidents, Clinton and himself.
Not very meaningful is it.
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