Brits focus their fury on Blair

[DoYouEverWonder]

August 12, 2006

LONDON — Rona and Alan Payne were glad to be driving, not flying, as they headed out of London for a weekend break. Air travel remained a mess Saturday in the wake of what authorities call a foiled plot to blow up passenger jets.

The Paynes say they constantly worry about terrorism. But they put part of the blame on their own government.

“Our foreign policy is creating this,” grumbled Alan Payne, who works in a funeral home. “It gives the other side the opportunity to gain strength. They’re crazy fanatics. They don’t care who they hurt or kill.”

President Bush has no closer friend in the war on terror than British Prime Minister Tony Blair. At home, though, Blair is increasingly unpopular with voters like the Paynes who think his unwavering support of U.S. policy in Iraq and the Middle East is fueling Islamic extremism and endangering his own citizens.

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/08/12/Worldandnation/Brits_focus_their_fur.shtml


I would assume Blair isn't going to get that boast in the polls that he was hoping for.

[magellan]

1. They're even less happy with him for staying in Barbados

...during all this. He's made his bed, he should jolly well lie in it at home where the public's wrath can infiltrate his dreams...if it lets him sleep at all!

[CJCRANE]

2. Blair answers to Bush only.

The British people are irrelevent to him.

[Kutjara]

3. Maybe he's trying to swing himself a nice cushy...

...job in the Carribbean for his next gig. High Commissioner of Barbados doesn't sound like the worst posting a career politican ever had to endure. He's certainly going to be looking for a new line of work very soon.

[MrPrax]

9. Or the Bahamas

like they did to this fascist embarassment once upon a time...

[wakeme2008]

4. Blair sitting on a boat in the Caribbean

Does not paint a pretty picture of a leader that cares about his people.

[DoYouEverWonder]

5. Obviously, he's attended

the George Bush School of Leadership during a Crisis. When disaster strikes, go on vacation.

[Eurobabe]

8. Same as Bu$h sitting in Crawford diddling himself while

Katrina hit.

Bu$h & Blair: Two dopes for the price of one!

[Briar]

6. The government is hard at work

portraying such criticism as extremist, and Islamic to boot. As John Reid (our version of Rumsfeld, Cheyney and Gonzales combined) says in response to a letter written by a group of British Muslim leaders, criticism of UK foreign policy represents:

"dreadful misjudgement that foreign policy of this country should be shaped in part, or in whole, under the threat of terrorism activity".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4788101.stm

[CJCRANE]

7. The counter question should be

"so should foreign policy be shaped to encourage terrorism?"

Also, as I've repeated elsewhere - bin Laden demanded US troops out of Saudi Arabia and after 9/11 B*sh complied. What exactly is that if not capitulation?

[Amonester]

10. That wasn't capitulation. The lil' king probably obeyed his creditors

in Saudi Arabia, you know, the disgusting tyrants there, and besides, he had already 'decided' he was just moving them next door while (falsely) claiming his war was for Congress and the UN to approve... HA!

On another note (in the OP) these words are amazing: "They’re crazy fanatics. They don’t care who they hurt or kill.”

Hundreds of thousands of innocent victims in Iraq!

And we who opposed it know exactly "who among us" didn't care who they'd hurt or kill (and still don't); they're crazy fanatics too. Tenfold!

All that blood not only does zilch to protect anyone "here," it only increased "the anger of the other side" and their "numbers" tenfold too!

Who's numb enough to feel safer? :shrug:

[AllyCat]

11. Current RW talking point: wiretaps allowed the arrest of these terra'ists

If only WE allowed wiretaps, it would have been our intelligence, not MI5 who found them. Blah, blah, blah, blah....

--snip--

Authorities say a tip shortly after the London bombings helped unravel the most recent plot. But many, including prominent Muslims in the House of Commons and the House of Lords, question whether Britain’s fealty to U.S. foreign policy placed London at risk to begin with.

--snip--

In other words, they were wiretapping SUSPECTED troublemakers with a known history, something our current LEGAL surveillance already allows. Wiretapping ordinary citizens wouldn't have done jacksh*t to find these folks. But will the media actually point this out to anyone who continues to spew this crap?

[DoYouEverWonder]

12. They can get a wiretap

just go to a judge and get a warrent. What is the big deal. If necessary, seal the evidence. What evidence? Oh that's right they have no evidence.

[AllyCat]

13. They don't need no stinkin' evidence.

Just listen to what they say, sit in your La-Z-Boy, and turn on Faux News...They're telling the truth. Honestly (crossing fingers behind back).

[gator_in_Ontario]

14. Why do the British

hate freedom? And why do they love the terrorists?:sarcasm:

[leesa]

15. Brits and Americans...they just don't GET IT.

“Our foreign policy is creating this,” ... "They’re crazy fanatics. They don’t care who they hurt or kill.”

They are at war with us for the things we do to their people.

[Prophet 451]

16. Actually, we do

The people on the street increasingly DO understand how counter-productive the current policies are. The trick is getting that through to our elected representatives or Blair who seems to have given up even the pretence of listening to the public.

[Higans]

17. Who elected them? (Multiple choice)

A. Die Bold

B. Saquoia

c. Hanging Chad

[Prophet 451]

19. Who, the representatives?

If you mean the MP's, none of the above. We use paper ballots, hand-counted and certified bu independant adjudicators here.

Blair managed to retain power last time for the simple reason that there was no realistic candidate to oppose him: The Tory part are still trying to repair the damage caused by eight years of revolving leaders and their implosion in the mid-nineties and the Liberal Party (full disclosure: I'm a member of the Liberal Party) were harmed by three things: The perception of them as a new party (not true, the Liberals grew out of the Whigs although the current incarnation dates from a merger in 1988); the perception of them as a wasted vote (every election, the Liberal Party gets about 20-25% of the vote but only about 5% of the seats) and the rumour even then that the leader, Charles Kennedy, had alcohol problems (which he did, he's since stepped down and is getting treatment).

Also, the link between the constiuents and the local MP is much, much stronger here than the link with governors in the US. I'm in regular correspondance with our local MP and that's not at all unusual. Also, political parties here are much broader in scope. Unlike the GOP, where virtually everyone would be pro-life, in Britain, you'll find a wide range of opinions even within one party. The party members can be roughly figured out on the grounds of their party (Tories/Conservatives = centre right; Labour = Traditionally centre-left, now just centre; Liberals = mid-left) but even within the Party, that's no guarentee of positions. The Labour party is pretty centrist these days but Blair is personally mid-right (which is why he's having problems getting anything significant passed, it's exceedingly common for the governing party to vote against their's leaders legislation here, Major suffered terribly from it). The Liberal policy positions are mid-left but the party covers everything from Charlie Kennedy (far-left) to Paddy Ashdown (centrist former leader).

My point is simply that you can't compare English politics to American. The English system is vastly more complex, offers several ways to neuter an out-of-control PM (which Blair is currently being reminded of) and someone's party often gives you little indication of their actual position on particular issues.

[Imagevision]

18. Asthey say; Blair is Bush's lapdog, even vacations when * does

[Prophet 451]

20. And it's costing him

A recent poll in The Guardian (very respectable broadsheet paper) showed about 80% of the country want him to distance himself from Bush. His MP's, uncomfortable with his Bush-worship and looking to their own re-election prospects, are increasingly unlikely to let him get his way on very much.

[calimary]

21. He isn't going to get that boost in the polls that he was hoping for?

Why would he? He's called it wrong on virtually everything else. Why would he reverse that now? He's just like our idiot, only more articulate and a little more dignified.

[mkb]

22. Historical Truths Need To Be Discussed

     I continue to advise conscientious people that acquiring
the facts of the world and cautiously disseminating it is the
best way for progress to be achieved.
     The mainstream media gives no backround to these
conflicts, which leaves those who do not do independent study
with a biased or ill-informed view of the struggles in the
Middle East and elsewhere.
     There are people like Norman Finkelstein who do not get
much attention in the mainstream, but who do careful research,
in this case regarding the creation of Israel, that is really
fundamental to what is happening now.
     The elites in this country, who are VERY political, take
advantage of the fact that they promote political ignorance of
the population as a whole.  They then use words like
"terrorism" to justify their hegemony and dominance
of others.  The Palestinian question and their forced eviction
from their land cannot be removed from the analysis of why the
Middle East is in turmoil.  The more people dig for the truth,
the more likely it is that justice will be done for us all.

[Imagevision]

23. Washington Post: 'The Best Guerrilla Force in the World'

By Edward Cody and Molly Moore
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, August 14, 2006

BEIRUT, Aug. 14 -- Hezbollah's irregular fighters stood off the modern Israeli army for a month in the hills of southern Lebanon thanks to extraordinary zeal and secrecy, rigorous training, tight controls over the population, and a steady flow of Iranian money to acquire effective weaponry, according to informed assessments in Lebanon and Israel.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/13/AR2006081300719_pf.html