Tony Blair: GW Bush was brave and simple

[Tricky]

Tony's writing his memoirs, and he has to talk about the president who he shared the era with, George W. Bush. His words were carefully chosen, almost like somebody writing a letter of recommendation for someone who they know is inept; "You will be lucky to get him to work for you." Yeah, he says:

Bush was a "true idealist" who displayed "genuine integrity and political courage,"

But then...

Blair writes that Bush was "very smart" while having "immense simplicity in how he saw the world."

Hate to say it, Tony Boy, but that sounds like a contradiction right there. Smart people recognize complexity.

"Right or wrong, it led to decisive leadership... he sincerely believed in spreading freedom and democracy,"

You can believe as much as you like, but if you do it wrong, your sincerity plus two bucks will get you a latte at Starbucks.

But Tony overlapped the Clinton presidency. The words are a little less waffly:

"(Clinton was) the most formidable politician I had ever encountered."

Could be an interesting read. I want to see how he allowed the "simple" George Bush to convince him to get into the Iraq quagmire.

 

[uk_dave]

Could be an interesting read. I want to see how he allowed the "simple" George Bush to convince him to get into the Iraq quagmire.

He claims in the Andrew Marr interview shown this evening that he wasn't persuaded by Bush.

It was an interesting interview.

 

[Kopji]

"Right or wrong, it led to decisive leadership

Wow. That's so... empty of meaning.

I'm thinking the relationship was more like in Star Wars when Darth Vader chokes the one guy over the video conference by using the Dark Side.

 

[Dr. Fascism]

Better than Obama, at the very least.

 

[bit_pattern]

Blair is such a little worm. Even after the disaster he wrought upon Iraq he is still calling for militar action against Iran. What. A. Douche

 

[Puppycow]

the president who he shared the era with

Or the president he shared the error with.

 

[MarkCorrigan]

Or the president he shared the error with.

That implies there was only one error.

 

[DC]

ah i can agree on simple

 

[Puppycow]

That implies there was only one error.

There's one particular error shared by Bush and Blair that kind of overshadows all the others I think.

 

[Crossbow]

Blair is obviously much more conflicted about this issue than he admits to.

First, he supports the war.
Second, he admits to crying for the victims of the war.
Third, he admits to using alcohol as a "prop".
Fourth, when asked by Parliment about the war he gives an evasive answer about if the war was worth it or not.
Fifth, even now he still cannot really state if he made the right decision or not, but he has no problem in blaming his successor for the fall of the Labour Party.

Ugh!

The fact is, if making the decision to go to war was such a good decision, then he would not be so out of joint about the matter.

 

[Giz]

Blair is obviously much more conflicted about this issue than he admits to.

First, he supports the war.
Second, he admits to crying for the victims of the war.
Third, he admits to using alcohol as a "prop".
...

Ugh!

The fact is, if making the decision to go to war was such a good decision, then he would not be so out of joint about the matter.

Really? So a war leader will never feel sadness, or disgust with the loss of life if they are convinced that the war is justified? Not sure I agree there (not sure David Lloyd George - PM during WW1 - would agree either).

To put it as an analogy on an individual level ... suppose a cop justifiably shoots someone. He knows he was justified and yet still feels bad and starts having the odd drink to cope... unbelievable or just human?

 

[Alferd_Packer]

Bravely bold Sir Robin rode forth from Camelot
He was not afraid to die, O brave Sir Robin
He was not at all afraid to be killed in nasty ways
Brave, brave, brave, brave Sir Robin

 

[JihadJane]

Tony Blair: GW Bush was brave and simple

Tony Blair is a delusional psychopath.

 

[bit_pattern]

Tony Blair is a delusional psychopath.

Damned straight. A vile, little worm of a man

 

[Crossbow]

Really? So a war leader will never feel sadness, or disgust with the loss of life if they are convinced that the war is justified? Not sure I agree there (not sure David Lloyd George - PM during WW1 - would agree either).

To put it as an analogy on an individual level ... suppose a cop justifiably shoots someone. He knows he was justified and yet still feels bad and starts having the odd drink to cope... unbelievable or just human?

Sorry, but after listening to Blair several times and reading what he has been saying on this issue, I really do not think that Blair has the same regret that a police officer may feel after justifiably shooting one person.

The Iraq War was a war of choice (which has killed at least 100,000 and perhaps far more, and cost trillions in damages), whereas the police officer had to shoot the person in order to protect his own life or the life of someone else (the only time a police officer is allowed to justifiably shoot someone is to protect his own life or the life of someone else), and these two things are not moral equivalents of one another.

 

[Virus]

But then...
Hate to say it, Tony Boy, but that sounds like a contradiction right there. Smart people recognize complexity.

Depends what you are smart in.

You can believe as much as you like, but if you do it wrong, your sincerity plus two bucks will get you a latte at Starbucks.

No, you can believe in something and still go about it wrong.

Could be an interesting read. I want to see how he allowed the "simple" George Bush to convince him to get into the Iraq quagmire.

Wrong way around. Blair was calling for the overthrow of Saddam long before Bush. Blair developed the doctrine of Humanitarian intervention, whereas Bush pressed for isolationism before 9/11 struck.

 

[Virus]

Blair is such a little worm. Even after the disaster he wrought upon Iraq he is still calling for militar action against Iran. What. A. Douche

Blair didn't wrought disaster on Iraq, Iran did with its state-sponsored terrorists.

 

[leftysergeant]

That he mistook the Shrub's bluster for courage and failed to recognize that it was symptomatic of some serious mental shortcomings kind of put me off Blair from the start.

 

[JihadJane]

Wrong way around. Blair was calling for the overthrow of Saddam long before Bush. Blair developed the doctrine of Humanitarian intervention, whereas Bush pressed for isolationism before 9/11 struck.

The bloody doctrine of Humanitarian intervention was around long before Blair added it to his make-up box.

 

[commandlinegamer]

Blair didn't wreak disaster on Iraq, Iran did with its state-sponsored terrorists.

FTFY. Sorry, but I was overwrought when I saw that.