Three Cheers for Tony Blair!

[Ó Cathasaigh]

Love him or hate him, you have to admit Tony Blair has done alot for Britian, and the world.

Tony Blair is going to step down from his position as Prime Minister some time around September of 2007, due to low approval ratings. Which alone is a rather classy thing to do...shows he is a man for Britian and not simply for Tony Blair.
While he does have a rather abysmal aproval rating in Britain, he has done alot for Britian. Especially in increasing the good will towards his country. Tony Blair will be forever remembered by Americans at least as the man "who stood by us". Tony Blair's strong reliability has increased American, and possibly other nations, opinion of Great Britian and has elevated the opinion of the British as "Amazing Allies". The 7 July 2005 London bombings only influenced this high opinion of Blair and the British people, as they did not give up and pull out their troops in Iraq and leave their allies high and dry, much as the Spanish (sort of) did after the Madrid bombings.

So here's to a great Prime Minister! He may be underapreciated and slandered, but he's a good guy in my book and a great ally!

"America has no truer friend than Great Britain"

[Cassy]

But... the UK is pulling troops out of Iraq.

[Ó Cathasaigh]

Yes, Troops that are no longer needed. No one is especially happy about that, except the British, but we have Iraqis to do their job who are willing and able.

The British did their job well in the South, and paid with a few hundred lives, but we're happy they stuck by us as long as they did. Long enough to train up their replacements and protect the region.

[deRougemont]

Hicks,

I agree completely. Though I was concerned with having the Labour Party take back the Prime Minister's position, I have been surprised and happy with Tony Blair's time in office. He has been faithful to both his country, Europe, his allies, and the West in general, setting an impeccable example for Britiain for what will surely be a century-long war against most of the Muslim world. This was no easy task, as his approval ratings show. But he chose the high road and committed to the right decisions despite popular opinion (which is often wrong, and always fickle). I have a new respect for the British Labour, never before having thought that they could produce a leader of such quality. Kudos to Blair and the UK, we will remember those who fought with us as much as those who didn't.

*salutes*

[Cassy]

Yes, Troops that are no longer needed. No one is especially happy about that, except the British, but we have Iraqis to do their job who are willing and able.

The British did their job well in the South, and paid with a few hundred lives, but we're happy they stuck by us as long as they did. Long enough to train up their replacements and protect the region.

The idea that British troops are not needed is frankly propaganda restricted to the American side of the Atlantic. Tony Blair himself recently agreed in an interview that the war had been a 'disaster'. The general UK consensus is that Iraq is too costly, too mismanaged and the British army, teetering on collapse, needs to focus in Afghanistan where the situation might actually be winnable.

[Ó Cathasaigh]

The idea that British troops are not needed is frankly propaganda restricted to the American side of the Atlantic. Tony Blair himself recently agreed in an interview that the war had been a 'disaster'. The general UK consensus is that Iraq is too costly, too mismanaged and the British army, teetering on collapse, needs to focus in Afghanistan where the situation might actually be winnable.

We've got a casualty list literaly ten times as long in Iraq....'too costly'? Please.

I guess you think that the fact that there are only 60 U.S. Soldiers stationed in Iraq's 'Kurdistan' and there have been no Deaths in that sector is pure American Propeganda as well.

[Stalins Ghost]

Heh. Couldn't disagree more. Blair may be a strong leader, but his policy stinks something rotten. Whats worse is that he's further closed the gap between Labour and Conservative parties. Both parties have sold us out frankly, and their policy is now nothing more than pandering to the mob. There's no-one out there in the UK any more trying to push the boundaries. The UK has slipped into political stagnation, where its more about presentation than policy.

As for Kurdistan, its another issue entirely, but I'd say its more down to the fact that the Kurds have done a fantastic job getting the region going themselves than anything else... like I say though - different issue

[Broomish0]

@Cassy
British army teetering on collapse?

[Cassy]

We've got a casualty list literaly ten times as long in Iraq....'too costly'? Please.

I guess you think that the fact that there are only 60 U.S. Soldiers stationed in Iraq's 'Kurdistan' and there have been no Deaths in that sector is pure American Propeganda as well.

You realise you have more than ten times the troops there too?

[deRougemont]

Heh. Couldn't disagree more. Blair may be a strong leader, but his policy stinks something rotten. Whats worse is that he's further closed the gap between Labour and Conservative parties. Both parties have sold us out frankly, and their policy is now nothing more than pandering to the mob. There's no-one out there in the UK any more trying to push the boundaries. The UK has slipped into political stagnation, where its more about presentation than policy.

I believe the mob has been wanting to pull out of Iraq for quite a while. He has not pandered to them. And what boundaries is he supposed to push? You must be talking about domestic policy, as he has done nothing but push boundaries in his foreign policy. For that very reason his being pressured out of office. You are hardly a man of the mob if the mob wants you out.

[Ó Cathasaigh]

In the most dangerous section as well!

To clear this up a little. The British didn't leave right after the bombings, the Spanish did (forgot the dates though). I can respect British efforts to finish thier part in the war (2 years after the bombings).

[Zenith Darksea]

There are no words to describe the economic and social disaster brought on Britain by one of Blair's policies in particular - the Private Finance Initiative. This Initiative has sent our public spending spiralling out of control (despite the extremely misleading name), given us low-quality services and is storing up unimaginable problems for future generations.

Then there was Iraq. Sure, he stood by America. Woopdedoo. Shame that he went against majority public opinion, lied repeatedly to the public and poured millions of pounds down the drain (he likes doing that), not to mention massively over-stretching our armed forces.

He's dictatorial and has practically crushed all semblance of democracy in his own political party. He's just pushed a bill to renew Britain's nuclear deterrent in a vote that saw nearly a hundred of his backbenchers rebel against him. The British people voted for a man they thought was honest, reliable and left-wing. Instead we got a lying, toadying right-winger.

Let me tell you, there's a reason why his public approval is rock bottom in this country.

[Ó Cathasaigh]

Right wing? Please. He's considered Right by the left and left by the right.

But I suppose the British have no sense of integrity when it comes to aiding your allies, just Blair?

[pannonian]

@Cassy
British army teetering on collapse?

Richard Dannatt, the Chief of Staff, explained that the British Army is being asked to do too much with too little resources. He offered 2 alternative solutions. Either more funding is made available, or commitments should be reduced to a level commensurate with what the military can cope with. Increasing funding for the military by cutting back on other areas or increasing taxes will be unpopular with the British public, so he and other high rankers favour the other solution.

[Stalins Ghost]

I believe the mob has been wanting to pull out of Iraq for quite a while. He has not pandered to them. And what boundaries is he supposed to push? You must be talking about domestic policy, as he has done nothing but push boundaries in his foreign policy. For that very reason his being pressured out of office. You are hardly a man of the mob if the mob wants you out.

Yup, talking about Domestic policy. Frankly, he's shafted our country entirely in this respect, and more importantly, in the build up to the new elections, I think you'll find the conservative and labour policies so far are pretty much entirely the same. The only difference at the moment is, Tony B is losing out in question time... its a ****ing joke frankly, and the worse thing is, people don't understand this and are finding themselves wooed by Cameron's charisma, blatantly ignoring the so far substandard policy. I don't care about presentation. I care about policy. As it stands now, we have 2 main parties preaching the same centrist message, and one sidelined party with no-hope and no clue.

Our armed forces too are in a state of complete disrepair, mostly thanks to recent reforms. Its a joke. The NHS is falling to pieces - and while it wasn't in great shape post-Thatcher anyway, as a Labour government, they should have been far more committed to it in the first place.

[Cassy]

Right wing? Please. He's considered Right by the left and left by the right.

But I suppose the British have no sense of integrity when it comes to aiding your allies, just Blair?

Please. There was no Briton that didn't feel the need to immediately help the US after 9/11, or Katrina, or any other time. But they do not feel obliged to continue sacrificing for a war they see as mismanaged and unjustified. Support for operations in Afghanistan remains alright, there is none for Iraq.

And there is a very common saying in Britain 'Blair is the best Conservative Prime Minister since Thatcher.' For a Labour PM he is undeniably very right wing.

[Ó Cathasaigh]

The British people voted for a man they thought was honest, reliable and left-wing. Instead we got a lying, toadying right-winger.

How many terms has he served again? Aparently it takes 3 for people to realize "what someone is".

[Cassy]

How many terms has he served again? Aparently it takes 3 for people to realize "what someone is".

He's in his third.

[Shaun]

The British people voted for a man they thought was honest, reliable and left-wing. Instead we got a lying, toadying right-winger.

I would not say that people thought that he was left wing at all, he is meant to be centerist, neither left nor right wing.

America has no truer friend than Great Britain

This bit I agree with.

[pannonian]

How many terms has he served again? Aparently it takes 3 for people to realize "what someone is".

In 1997 and 2001, whatever one said about Blair, few thought of him as toadying. The only reason he won again in 2005 was because his main opponent was Michael Howard - someone who makes Blair seem wholesome.