What really gets my goat when I hear Blair and his ministers talk about the mess in Iraq is this:
They tell us that we should forget about the initial illegal
occupation, and now all join hands and support those who have managed
to virtually destroy a country, kill two hundred thousand civilians
and send troops to Iraq badly equipped with many returning home with
devastating injuries and, according to the ISG, brought the region to
the brink of a disaster. To do all these in three years requires
stupidity and/or hubris of remarkable proportions
I for one cannot forget the lead up to the invasion, when the UK government lied and lied and lied again so that they could follow Bush into Iraq, a decision that appears to have been made many months before. Had they won, what would be equivalent to winning the lottery I'm sure the Bush/Blair smirks would be permanent facial features by now.
They have lied about what is happening in Iraq. Blair deflects any criticism by telling us we are doing so well in Basra, when our policy is to hand over security to local militias.
Today on the Daily Politics show this clown even had the brass neck to tell his audience that YO-Blair knew what to do in Iraq all along and the Americans took no notice.
And today we hear YO-Blair going around bragging that he has had the solution all the time. Solve the Israel/Palestine problem and talk to Syria and Iran. Another piece of deception. Syria may have a chat, but the idea that Iranian cavalry is going to ride over the hill to help UK/USA is just risible.
As usual, Simon Jenkins in today's Guardian gets it right.
Talk of appealing to Iran and Syria to get America off the hook is absurd. Why should they move an inch as their sworn foe squirms in agony? The White House declares it will not talk to Iran "unless it agreed to stop nuclear enrichment". That is no way to talk to a rescuer.
And we hear today that anyway, the the enfeebled Israeli Prime Minister Olmert, has ruled out any talks with Syria.
"The attempt to create a linkage between the Iraqi issue and the Mid east issue - we have a different view," Mr Olmert told Israeli journalists."
Direct talks with Syria and Iran will not take place in the teeth of strong objections from Jerusalem. And the idea that solving the Israel/Palestine problem will stop Sunni and Shi'a Muslims in Iraq from killing each other is just nonsense!
As the Iraq Study Group's proposals are unlikely to offer a
solution, Blair/Bush have simply to keep up the "we mustn't fail" and
the "stay the course" rhetoric.
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