Andrew Rawnsley (London Observer): Blair is doomed to be ignored

[Jack Rabbit]

From the London Observer (Sunday supplement of the Guardian Unlimited
Dated Sunday March 14

Blair is doomed to be ignored
The Prime Minister's warnings about the threat of terrorism may be right but he is fated to become the Cassandra of Downing Street
By Andrew Rawnsley

Tony Blair's setpiece speech to his party's spring conference was originally conceived as a confident jog through the sunny uplands of his government's successes, a relentlessly upbeat address exclusively focused on the domestic agenda.
That was before the bombs went off in Madrid. The speech the Prime Minister came to deliver late yesterday morning had been reconfigured. It began in the shadow of the valley of death with a sombre and chilling prologue about what he called 'the new menace of our time'. Though it might have been only a tenth of the speech, it was the most telling tenth. Where his father's generation had fought the Nazis, and the generation after that had been through the Cold War, now the existential challenge was 'terrorism waged without limit'. Welcome to World War Four.
Quién? Por qué? The imploring questions - Who? Why? - asked on the banners carried by the millions who poured on to the streets of Spain are being asked with not much less intensity in Downing Street and Whitehall. The Prime Minister has already got his big answer. Whether the Madrid train bombings turn out to be the work of Eta or al-Qaeda or some coalition of nihilistic murderers, this was the latest offensive on civilisation by those 'hellbent on doing evil'.
Those close to the Prime Minister report that, since the attacks on the Twin Towers, there has not been a morning when he has not got up wondering with at least a half of his mind whether this will be the day when Britain suffers its version of 9/11; whether this will be the day when he has to address a stunned nation after a plane has plunged into Buckingham Palace or Big Ben; whether this will be the day when he has to respond after massive and simultaneous explosions have torn through hundreds of lives at Waterloo, Victoria and King's Cross stations.

Read more.

Indeed, the attacks in Madrid, for which al Qaida is now taking "credit", show that the invasion of Iraq was as best a waste of time vis a vis the war on terrorism and at worst something that exacerbated the problem.

The war was sold on a pack of lies told by Blair, Bush and their aides. Now, we see even more clearly than before that it accomplished nothing.

[jrthin]

1. This article makes me

sad because it is a stark reminder that it is the foreign press that exhibit critical thinking, while the US press exhibit lap-dog thinking and behavior.

[Sagan]

2. Excellent point, and a great talking point...

"The invasion of Iraq was, at best, a waste of time. At worst, it exacerbated the problem."

[Capt_Nemo]

3. Andy whoring for Blair once again

Andy doesn't want us to see that it is the occupation of an arab
country by UK troops, sent there by Blair, that puts his country
in harms way.

Fuck him!

on edit: much more thoughtfull and relevant article on the Independent
http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=500993

[T_i_B]

4. Rawnsley whoring as per usual

Rawnsley tries to avoid the matter of whether or not Blair's actions in Iraq have bred teerror at all in this article. And because of this point blamnk refusal to look at the effects of his political paymasters actions that his article falls flat on it's arse.

He tries to suggest breifly that those who do ask these questions are little more than a rump but the reality is that 2.2 million of us marched against the war in Iraq that Rawnsley supported and we are a damm sight more than a mere rump.

We have questuions to ask, and the Blairite bootlickers are doing their upmost to avoid answering them. Which is disappointing as IMHO we will not put a stop to this terror unless we learn from the mistakes that the likes of Blair and Bush have been making. Because it does seem like Blair's actions in Iraq have not served to end terrorism but to breed it.