Comments on: The Ten Myths of Blair

By: sakthi

sakthi — Wed, 30 May 2007 12:03:32 +0000

Blair has the nice gentlemen image in most of the countries before he joined with Bush for Iraq war,His act with Bush on Iraq war affected his image considerably... Car Breakdown Cover

By: Merrick

Merrick — Mon, 28 May 2007 14:25:38 +0000

As well as Piersy’s point about the way Blair could’ve sidelined Northern Ireland, he could just as easily have ignored any domestic clamour for devolution in Scotland (and there really wasn’t a heated desire in Wales).

Even if he’d agreed to offer it, he could’ve had the Labour Party not be so rahrahrah about it and deliver the crucial winning votes in Wales.

I too wish to make plain that these are minor quibbles and that he’s a despicable twat of the highest order. As was his predecessor, as will be his successor.

He came in on a wave of relief that we were getting rid of an arrogant government (Blair had 93% approval rating in 97, if I’m not mistaken the highest for any elected leader anywhere ever).

Stick any of us in that job and we’d do the same. Concentrations of power lead to one thing. It’s not the politician, it’s the structures they inhabit that are the problem.

By: Brian B.

Brian B. — Fri, 18 May 2007 21:21:53 +0000

I go along with much of this, although not all of it. I think, for example, that there's ample evidence that Blair made a major (sorry: pun not intended) contribution to the settlement in Northern Ireland, and that Mo Mowlam, while providing useful atmospherics by hugging everyone and talking to prisoners in the Maze prison, was out of her depth when it came to detailed negotiations. Also her obvious tilt towards the republicans virtually disqualified her as an even-handed intermediary, whatever the merits of the case. But I suggest that one of the greatest myths being peddled about Blair's achievements is that he masterminded a huge and ethical success in Kosovo and that the bombing of Yugoslavia which he sponsored more noisly than anyone else (although it was overwhelmingly an American operation) brought about the liberation of Kosovo from the wicked Serbs. The truth is in fact almost the exact opposite, as spelled out on my blog: see http://www.barder.com/ephems/673. There's a fuller and documented account of what really happened over Kosovo, and the discreditable and ineffectual part played by Blair in it with its eerie echoes of Iraq, at http://www.barder.com/politics/international/kosovo/. Brian http://www.barder.com/ephems/

By: Little Nicky Machiavelli

Little Nicky Machiavelli — Fri, 18 May 2007 16:58:21 +0000

He has also pushed that most divisive issue, religion, back into the national consciousness thanks to his sucking up to American fundies.

By: piersy

piersy — Fri, 18 May 2007 10:01:21 +0000

While I agree with your sentiment on the whole, you cannot dismiss Blair from the NI peace process so casually.
Of course Adams was hugely important, but he’d already bought into the idea of a peace process, as seen under the tories, which stalled when they became hostage to the unionist vote to maintain their slimmest of majorities.
Blair inherited that position and a huge majority, but could easily have sidelined or ignored the issue. But he did pursue it energetically, with the aid of the fantastically capable and appropriate posting of Mowlam.
But without Blair’s buy in it could still be at impasse today.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Blair is the devil incarnate frankly, but credit where credit is due.

By: dearieme

dearieme — Thu, 17 May 2007 15:01:00 +0000

His claim to doing good probably consists solely of letting Brown let the BoE set interest rates. His claim to moral merit is that he despises Old Labour. His claim to novelty is that he is the first overt crypto-catholic. In all, he’s just a loathsome wee twat who gave war a chance. And may perhaps have destroyed Britain.