Last leg
BEIRUT: Tony Blair has just touched down for the last and trickiest leg of his Middle East tour. He has come to Lebanon less than a month after the end of a war which claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people and which some blame him for doing too little to stop. What's more he's flown in from Israel - a journey which, I'm told, has very rarely been made - where he embraced warmly the man who ordered the attacks.
Tony Blair is braced for demonstrations and his staff have decided not to take the risk of trying to visit bomb ravaged southern Beirut. The reception committee which might have awaited Mr Blair would, no doubt, have gone beyond the jostling and jeering which greeted UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
One who will not be greeting the prime minister is Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri. His explanation that he was "out of town ....on private business" turns out to be a little less than the full story. He is, in fact, in Iran. I suppose it could be worse for Tony Blair. He could be meeting Gordon Brown - just to pass on a gift for the baby, of course.
Do not expect Tony Blair to be repentant at his news conference with the Lebanese PM Fouad Siniora. He is, I'm told, proud of Britain's role in proposing and helping to deliver the framework - an international force as a buffer between Israel and Hizbollah - for the UN resolution which halted the conflict. He still insists that without this, calls for an immediate ceasefire were meaningless "grandstanding". What will be fascinating is to see how Mr Siniora reacts to him.
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Comments
Oh Nick...please let's see some more forceful journalism out of you, rather than this softly, softly approach to Blair's visit to the Middle East.
No doubt Mr Blair's ego is such that he believes the Lebanese will soon realise the error of their protesting ways and recognise him for what he (and only he) believes he really is...a world leading statesman, with an in-depth understanding of Middle Eastern politics, prepared to genuinely listen to both sides without pandering to the US President. No doubt he will take this opportunity to apologise for his disgraceful lack of insistence on a ceasefire earlier in the crisis - a ceasefire that would have stopped the death of hundreds of Lebanese civilians?
To quote Katherine Hepburn in the wonderful film The Lion in Winter "There will be pork in the treetops come morning"!
pray, what role exactly did Blair play publicly, in the UN SCR? Wasn't he told to 'go home' by the French? France & the US negotiated the deal?
This man really has no sense of shame. How he can look any Palestinian or Lebenese in the eye is beyond me.
Considering that Blair;
* refused to call for a ceasefire
* refused to acknowledge Israel was disproportionate
* allowed military hardware (to be used on civilians) through the UK
* was greeted by Olmert with smiles and an embrace
* met the families of the Israeli soldiers that were taken prisoner, but not one Palestinian or Lebanese victim of the war.
He is a disgrace to the UK people.
So Blair thinks it's grandstanding to try and stop a bully kicking someone to death.
If there was any justice in this world, he Bush and Olmert would be on trial for war crimes!
How much time has Mr Blair spent in Britain over the last few months ?
Mr Blair has a golden opportunity to shine and show his mettle abroad. After all his efforts paved the way to reducing tension and halting the conflict. Tony has the gift of the gab and his charm offensive in Israel and Lebanon could pay dividends. Mr Siniora will most certainly pay close attention to Mr Blair's efforts: cold shouldering him would be counter productive. So one could expect some momentum. The sticking point would be Hezbollah and that is where there will be sparks, friction and disagreement. Not wanting to talk with Hezbollah is the biggest stumbling block to a long time solution.
Now, now Nick stick to the importance of this visit and leave out the Gordon vs Tony jibes.
Perhaps on this ill-advised visit Tony will finally understand why his devotion to the Bush/Olmert axis was not such a good idea for Lebanon - or will he be blind to the demonstrators and deaf to their cries?
Blair didn't seem to mind "grandstanding" and "apportioning blame" when he blamed Hezbollah for starting the recent war, ignoring the fact that Israel escalated it from a border skirmish into a devastating total war on the Lebanese population.
Churchill famously said that 鈥渢o jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war鈥, but in the case of Israel smashing Lebanon to bits, Blair apparently did not believe this necessarily to be true. All along he insisted that any end to the fighting had to involve the disarming of Hezbollah, whether or not an international force was involved. In other words, the war had to end with what amounted to a clear victory for Israel. In essence, the British policy was 鈥榞ive war a chance鈥, to slightly paraphrase John Lennon.
One might ask how hard it could have been to call, at the earliest possible point after 12 July, for both sides to cease all military activity and comply with international law. That would depend, it would seem, on what principal outcome you were looking for; an end to the killing, or a victory for one of the belligerents.
I have no doubt that he is being welcomed with displays of protest and hate, obviouslly, he actively allowed the country to be destroyed and in my opinion encouraged it.
Now, I would prefer to see some reality, and the truth of the matter. This article is nonsense (sorry but it is!)
If you can't give us accurate commentary, then please keep your opinions and propaganda to yourselfs and just point your cameras around the place, in silence and let us decide for ourselfs...
Paradox it is to go and claim denocracy when in the UK Blair has no power, there is growing demand from the nation for him to go immediately.Therefore if UK was democratic country there will be immediate elections to elect e new prime minister from the voting bureau.This country has witnessed the sheer childiness of it's leaders this past week.
It is hard to look at see this in historical perspective. I do wonder what Blair could have done differently over Lebanon. Would calling for a ceasefire in the way his critics demanded have made a difference? I doubt it. Perhaps he should have it done anyway for political purposes; an easier time at home. On the international stage Blair is much more concerned about how he spends his diplomatic influence than his political capital.
Going back to Clinton, the world approached a Palestinian solution that Arafat himself rejected. Post-Clinton, Blair has been 'all two-state solution, all the time' and it is likely that anything positive in Bush's stance on the roadmap was down to Blair's influence.
In other words, Blair has always been working hard for peace in Palestine, both for the Palestinians and the Israelis. He really hasn't been succesful, but with Hamas, Kadima, US Republicans, Iran and Syria all looking to go the other way, what chance did he have?
What a tragedy, and what a tragic figure Blair cuts as he is hated by those he has fought for, and welcomed by those he has fought against.
Bomb ravaged southern Beirut and protests beyond jostling and jeering would have been good preparation for Mr. Blair's visits to the TUC and Labour Party conferences. Mr. Blair might be a friend of Israel but the unions and many in his party may not greet him so warmly as the Israeli Prime Minister did.
Blair has to go immediately no credit at homeand no one wants him abroad this the end for himm he should go before the pelted egggs sorry his legacy is nonexistant i mean there still people selling big issue ....10 years of waste i am afraid oh yaeh i forgot property prices have rocketed and we all virtual millionaires and there big spiral of debts facing us due to Gordon...
Nick, your opening paragraph mentions the "man who ordered the attacks". Sounds like Israel started the war, whilst the Hezbollah actions were the causus bellum. Please be vigilant to state the facts less unambiguously.
How can Blair or anyone for that matter, remain Prime Minister when their accions or inaction provokes such reaction from natives of the contries that they visit. He (Blair) is a cause for embaressment when Brittish foreign policy is governed by a foriegn country that has led to people to so much dislike to the ruling Peoples reprecentive to the State of Britian.
It begs the question what the head of state (The Crown) opinion is of the misheadling of our (Britons) reputation.
B Liar has nothing to be proud of. His intervention in Lebanon was entirely one-sided and in favour of Zionistan's orgy of destruction and murder.
The (soon to be former) British PM's idiotic and undiplomatic behaviour has destroyed the standing of Britain in the eyes of the people of the Middle East and has demeaned Britain's position in the world in general (which was the main reason why Britain was not asked to participate in the ceasefire negotiations between US and France).
Blair has made the world a worse place due to his unreasonable and extremist foreign policy. The evil that this man has done will, sadly, outlive his political career.
Jim
Just to let the PM know.
Its ok, dont worry about this domestic tiff between you and GB. Whilst you were away the DPM has stepped in and sorted the issue. Apparently he was refereeing this one all along and we just didn't realise it. Sigh.
I think there is a moral issue here...You know? "The back biting thing" having to stop else Labour will lose the next election...So who better to have as a mediator than Labours keeper of high morals, Mr "ethically correct" John Prescott.
Before I proceed I have to ask is the DPM feeling all right?...
His latest rediculous statement would have been better delivered whilst wearing a three cornered jesters hat with bells on, from the ramparts of The Houses of Parliament whilst being pelted with rotton eggs and custard pies!!
Those people not voting for Labour will do so for many reasons. The antics of the Deputy Prime Minister will figure highly in that equation.
Is this part of Tony's Golden Goodbye to the world, as part of the time table for his Prime Ministerial departure?
Hopefully this tour will suggest to Tony that a farewell tour of the UK is not a good idea...
the axis of evil. blair and bush
Tony was welcomed by these Lebanese and would get a similar welcome all over the UK.
Blair's brave position can't be called anything else but a denial of human responsibility since this is what it would be called on any other level of conflict if we would happen to apply moral the way it is known in everyday life.
Let's create an analogy. A headmaster finds a bully beating up another student. Now, some teachers try to separate them. However, headmaster is convinced that a durable resolution framed by council's social service would be better than a "quick fix". Finally victorious bully kills poor boy in a schoolyard. And there was no alternative, right?
This comparison is not out of context as the whole international politics itself is out of context. Namely, out of human context. Blair can't possibly remove his political mask without risking his human face being disclosed. And there would be far too much misery to share it with public. If Mr Seniora is a man of compassion, he should respond with pity. If he's a man of justice...
Tony seems so misguided. He seems to yearn for a level of recognition, and when he cant get it at home and things are getting uncomfortable - he jets off and becomes super tony - here to save the world.
Now,if you mention the word Blair and Israel,you will always get the words bush and "Israeli" aggression,anti semitism always creeps in,even on little old Nick Robinsons blog. Look at the vehemence towards Israel in some of these posts,poor little Hezbollah were only firing conkers at Israel - bless.
Nobody seems to be bashing Iran for supplying the katushyas that were fired exclusivley at Israeli civilians...
Being the astute maipulator of PR that Tony Blair is supposed to be,one would think the only question being raised is along the lines of "why is he visiting the middle east?"
Blair always seeks reparation abroad - he reminds me of Brent and his toe curling observations about black film stars, Blair really is that naive.
Please Tony,stop it,stay at home and get rid of prescott,sack Gordon perhaps - do something!
Do we have a foreign secretary anymore?
What exactly does she do?
Shouldn't that be "Last Legs", Nick?