The beginning of the end? (For Tony Blair)

From The Times (via timesonline)

November 17, 2007

Tony Blair: ?'I wanted war - it was the right thing to do'

Tony Blair has admitted for the first time that he ignored the pleas of his aides and ministers to deter President Bush from waging war on Iraq because he believed that America was doing the right thing. And he has acknowledged that he turned down a last-ditch offer from Mr Bush to pull Britain out of the conflict.

He has also revealed that he wishes he had published the full reports from the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) instead of the infamous September dossier about Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction that so damaged him, and was almost certainly one of the factors that contributed to him leaving office sooner than he wanted.

In frank remarks in a BBC documentary, Mr Blair confirmed openly the belief of many of his closest supporters that he never used his position as America's strongest ally to try to force Mr Bush down the diplomatic rather than the military route.

It was never a "bargaining chip" for him and he was never looking for a way out, he told David Aaronovitch, of The Times, in interviews for The Blair Years. "It was what I believed in, and I still do believe it," he said.

The documentary contains clear evidence that many of those around Mr Blair, including Sir David Manning, his foreign policy adviser, Jeremy Greenstock, Britain's ambassador at the UN, Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary at the time, and even Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, had huge reservations about the rush to war.Mr Blair said: "In my view, if it wasn't clear that the whole nature of the way Saddam was dealing with this issue had changed, I was in favour of military action."

The programme reveals that the key meeting at which Mr Bush learnt that he had Mr Blair on side took place at Camp David in September 2002 - six months before hostilities began. In return for promising Mr Blair that he would try to help get a second resolution at the UN, he also won Mr Blair's pledge that if he got "stuck" in the UN, war would be the only way out. Mr Blair later suggested that Mr Bush tried for a second resolution as a "favour" to him.

The programme also reveals that just before the key Commons vote on war Mr Bush telephoned Mr Blair and offered him a way out. Mr Blair explained why he had declined the offer: "He was always very cognisant of the difficulty I had. He was determined we should not end up with the regime change being in Britain and he was saying to me, ?'Look I understand this is very difficult and America can do this militarily on its own and if you want to stick out of it, stick out of it', and I was equally emphatic we should not do that."

Sure. But Terry Venables' as well a bit.

Tony Blair for England manager?

Steve 41oo wrote:

Tony Blair for England manager?

Catholic is the same like 'foreigner', correct?

Walter Hinteler wrote:

Steve 41oo wrote:

Tony Blair for England manager?

Catholic is the same like 'foreigner', correct?

No, incorrect, they would quite like Martin O'Neill. (but he won't accept)

And Jose is not CofE, surely?

:wink:

Brown deal bars Blair from top EU job

The Independent
20 April 2008

Tony Blair's chances of becoming the first president of the EU have been dashed under a secret veto deal Gordon Brown has struck with France and Germany, it emerged last night.

The former prime minister is said to be "interested" in the £200,000-a-year job if the terms are right. But the British, French and German governments have all privately agreed not to back a candidate if any one of them has objections to him or her, diplomats have revealed.

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy has lobbied on behalf of Mr Blair, but the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is against the move. Mr Brown has said Mr Blair would make an "excellent" EU president, but has not explicitly backed him as a candidate. The deal means the decision is now out of the Prime Minister's hands.

"We have agreed with France and Germany not to back a candidate one of the others doesn't want," a British diplomat said.

Yet there is new speculation from senior EU sources that Mr Blair is lining himself up for the role of high representative for foreign affairs - the second permanent position created under the Lisbon Treaty. The job, effectively the EU's foreign minister, has more real power than the presidency.

Mr Blair has recently let it be known in the highest circles of the EU that he would want a "full-time" job similar to his current post as Middle East envoy.

If there was one thing at least that was good about the Brown government, it was that he finally threw out those execrable Blairite beasts of spin and deceit. But now Mandelson and Milburn are back, Alistair Campbell is being courted, and Blunkett and Clarke are rumored to be next.

Brown appears to be heading for a fully-fledged restoration of late Blairism. Great - cause that was proving to end so well a couple of years ago. Looks like the sound advice of Jon Cruddas about where Labour should head will not be heard until after the inevitable election defeat.