Blair condemns Israel and opens rift with US

[TacticalPeek]

Blair condemns Israel and opens rift with US

Ewen MacAskill in Jerusalem and Patrick Wintour
Tuesday April 20, 2004
The Guardian

Tony Blair distanced himself from Washington yesterday by pointedly condemning the Israeli assassination of the Hamas leader, Abdel Aziz Rantissi, at the weekend.

George Bush's administration refused to criticise the killing and said Israel had a right of self-defence.

Mr Blair told parliament: "We condemn the targeted assassination of Hamas leader Abdel-Aziz al Rantissi just as we condemn all terrorism including that perpetrated by Hamas." While Mr Blair in the past has been quick to condemn Palestinian suicide bombings against Israel, he has been less ready to criticise action against Palestinians.

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http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,11538,1195710,00.html

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. WTF? But they want Armagedon, is this

an act by Blair?

:: scratches head ::

Or maybe he is trying to prove independence here

[TacticalPeek]

3. Fake independence.

Bad cop - Dumb cop.

[Blasphemer]

5. Exactly...

They've offered him outs before. He's taking this one. I suppose this is meant to appease the British people.

[rjbcar27]

14. His statement is consistent with Foreign Office policy

This is hardly ground breaking.

[daleo]

2. Down poodle!

Down boy! (scratches poodle behind the ears)

This won't last long.

[wtmusic]

4. Give poodle credit where credit is due

Ouch! He just bit master's hand! Baaaaad poodle...

[Just Me]

18. I agree!!!

An even-handedness should be encouraged: violence bad, coorperation good,...on both sides!!! No peace will begin until everyone is held evenly accountable, everyone is given the opportunity to air grievances, and everyone is invited to fully participate in the process. There simply HAS to be some demonstration that all people are equal in both worth and responsibility and that a good faith attempt at an objective form of justice will be applied. And, a long-term commitment must be shown by everyone because peace is a long-term objective, not a short-term fulfillment. Besides, healing and trust take TIME,...and given that both have been severely damaged,...it will take a LONG time.

[madrchsod]

6. england is in the early stages of a

race/religious war. there are factions of neo nazis,muslim fundies,and jews who are attacking each other daily in britian and ireland. blair cannot publicly back the sharon government because it would add more fuel to the fire..

[checks-n-balances]

7. If that's the case, then I think less horribly of him

At least he's doing something right for a change and showing a little backbone. Maybe that and Woodward's book are getting to him.

[Vladimir]

12. Which Britain is this?

There are racial problems, and these have exploded on occasion, but its hardly the early stages of a war...

V

[rjbcar27]

13. Really? I see little evidence of that, and I live there.

Neo-Nazis? By that do you mean the BNP?

Think you may be being a little histrionic.

[Oggy]

15. ???

I don't know where this came from, but like any Multi-cultural sociaty there are sometimes tensions, but to claim we are "in the early stages of race/religious war." seems way over the top. Maybe 10, 20, 50 years ago you might have been more acurate with this statement, but not now. On what do you base this statement?

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. I have not heard of a single attack by jews in Britain

and they are not the main target of the neo-nazis. The tension is between neo-nazis and muslim fundamentalists - Israel/Palestine is pretty irrelevant to it. It's also a small minority - far less than, say, the support for le Pen in France.

Talking of neo-nazis, I see that Tony Martin has been offered psychiatric help, after saying he now supports the BNP, and wants a dictator for Britain (OK, it's not exactly connected like that, but there is a pattern there - violence, hatred for other cultures, paranoia, fascism).

[rman]

17. sources please

citing these "early stages of a race/religious war".

[Aidoneus]

8. Blair's words are meaningless compared to actions

His regime may speak such, but sends Sharon weapons all the same.

[Zhade]

9. Wow - Blair actually did something right.

Too little too late, Mr. War Criminal, but still the right thing to do.

[gate of the sun]

10. right on......the poodle speaks

right on the heels of a visit with bush. he he he. I think this is a slam in the right direction.

[rpannier]

11. Too Much, Too Little, Too Late...

Give it a few days. He'll be back to being shrubbies puppet.

[Toronto Ron]

19. One wonders...

whether Blair would issue a similar condemnation, should the U.S. assassinate Bin Laden or Zawahiri.

[Rhiannon12866]

20. It's about time

Terrorism is terrorism, and "targeting killings" will only incite more of the same. This just has to stop, period. It doesn't matter who is responsible. This is a possible, tentative first step. Let's hope that Tony Blair, who definitely has nothing to lose, at this point, condemns more of the violence perpetrated by Israel. George Bush* has been MIA in this entire conflict, unlike Clinton and Carter, and he could have done so much good in being a partner for peace in this region. But he has an election to win and this is not a popular or winning issue.:-(

[0007]

21. Tony spins one way and then another way - Goddammit he's good!