Tony Blair

hi yorkshire and welcome there are many brits on board already and you start off with a profound question of which i am sure you will receive many answers. personally i think Tony Blair has usually demonstrated a good sense of ethics and is quite admired on this side of the Atlantic. But since i have a liberal bias against Bush and this war, my offered opinion is that Blair would like to see himself as the link between Europe and the US and has signed on to the Bush agenda hoping that in the end all will be well. If all does not go well Bush will be gone and probably so will Blair. I also think the rift between the US/Brit and the Euros is in for a long ride.

Hi yorkshire, WELCOME to A2K. Sorry you missed the A2K London Gathering we had on March 20 at ye olde Cheshire Cheese on Fleet Street. We called it the Three Continent Gathering.
I can't speak for all Americans, but I think Tony Blair is a very good PM for your country. His support of GWBush's war with Iraq is honorable, but one of his biggest political boner. I've often wished that Tony Blair was our president, and GWBush was your PM. I doubt very much we would be engaged in war if that were so. I also think the Brits are America's best friend and ally. The sacrifice that Blair made to stick with our misguided president to a preemptive war with Iraq is one of historical proportions. Most Americans will remember this dedication for many generations to come, no matter how misguided it may have been. Finally, I honestly believe that Tony Blair is a good PM for your country. He's intelligent and fair minded, and tries his best to balance the wide political spectrum of your country. I think MP's saw Tony Blair at his best when he made his speech to Parliament about why the Brits could not abandon the US's war with Iraq. I'm still against this war, but I feel Tony Blair is the best Britian has in this time in its history. c.i.
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Welcome, Yorkshire! Yes -- I too have been an admirer of Tony Blair but his involvement with the "cowboy" has puzzled me. I don't think he's an idiot...

Hello yorkshire ... Welcome & greetings from Oz.

Tony Blair? I've been bamboozled by his position on Iraq for ages. It just doesn't make sense to see him in the company of Bush & Horward
Until he became so strongly involved & committed I'd seen him as progressive & the best thing to happen to the UK in years. Just incomprehensible.

Thanks for the welcomes people.

It's nice to know that some people like Blair! Personally I don't. I think he's very very sincere, but in the way that he absolutely truly believes whatever he happens to be saying at the time. I don't think it's a coincidence that he's a lawyer by profession.

He probably does see himself as the bridge between the US and europe, but it does beg the question-why do we want a bridge to dubya?

And as for him being progressive......By US standards maybe, but over here he is well to the right of his party. I think(hope) this war will see the end of his career in the labour party and allow it to do it's job domestically.

The only times I ever like Blair is when he speaks right after Bush.

I am not one to pick on Bush's speech but must admit thinking that Blair makes more sense saying the same thing.

IMO Blair is a fool, and think that trying to remain a player on the global stage by playing along with the biggest player is stupid.

I value his efforts at trying to be Europe's "in" with America and think that can help America while endangering Britain's own relationships.

I see Blair as a lawyer and 'yes' man - anyones if the price is right. Remember his great and close friendship with Bill Clinton?

If Bush told him Luxemburg was a supporter of terrorism and threat to world peace, Blair would support him. :wink:

If he had intelligence (about enemy)?

I admire Tony Blair -- and I think he is an articulate, well-intentioned man. I also consider him an effective leader.

His tie-in with baby Bush is incomprehensible to me -- one of the dumbest moves in a rather intelligent career.

Hi guys (welcome, yorkshire!)

I voted for Tony. I admire him, like many of you, and I'm fairly non-plussed about the position he's taking.

I have a feeling that he sees himself as coming out of this as a Winston Churchill kind of character - arguing against appeasement when it's an unpopular stance and going with principles into a situation he considers genuinely dangerous.

The questions I have are: Why now? Why without the rest of the world? What has Britain got to gain from acting alongside the USA (we have to win something in order to make this worthwhile) rather than Europe?

I'm living in the hope that there is some kind of Machiavellian plan behind Tony's choices (which I find a strange position to be in). Maybe he has evidence that he hasn't been able to show us. Maybe he's struck a deal with Dubya about the Israel/Palestine question as a next step. Maybe there will be contracts for British companies in the new Iraq...

Lots of "maybe"s and very few answers...

One suggestion I have heard is that someone in the Administration knows where his bodies are buried. Politics is a dirty business.

I see Tony Blair stretched across the Atlantic, desperately trying to hold the world together, while absorbing sucker punches from all angles.

I think history will remember him much more fondly than popular opinion in Britain treats him now. I am a member at a very vocal, very anti-Bush British board and let me say THEY HATE TONY. I mean a viseral, scary hate.

I don't think Blair is in it for any ulterior reason, because his alignment with the US has hurt him politically and personally. I bet he has nightmares about Bush every night. Sometimes, when they speak together on camera, I could swear I see Tony forcing back a grimace. I wish Bush would let Tony go over his speeches...

I look forward to finding out the significance of Dubya's proposed visit to Northern Ireland.

It seems to me that this is some kind of pay-back for Tony's support. The question of the Palestinian state is now firmly on the agenda. It remains to be seen whether Tony's insistence on US participation/influence over the "Roadmap to Peace" in this dispute has been effective.

Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves! Or so they say. Tony Blair can't make up its mind between Cool Britannia and Rule Britannia. I think he realises the only way GB can play a role in this world is holding the hand of big brother USA.