A Journey presents Blair's actions during the 2006 Lebanon war as those of a committed ideologue, not simply Bush's poodle
Chris Phillips
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 9 September 2010
"When Tony Blair's memoir, A Journey, was released last week, columnists and reviewers focused on his fairly unrevealing comments about the Iraq war. Less widely reported is Blair's account of his other major misjudgment in the Middle East: his stubborn refusal to call for a ceasefire during the 2006 Lebanon war.....
A Journey thus presents Blair's actions in summer 2006 as those of a committed ideologue, not simply Bush's poodle as previously charged. Blair seems driven by a world view that, though not explicitly neoconservative, certainly has similarities. He sees the Middle East through a largely religious lens, frames its complex conflicts though a simplified struggle between radical and moderate Islam and is willing to use force and sacrifice lives to achieve its aims, irrespective of public and expert opinion.
Chris Phillips
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 9 September 2010
"When Tony Blair's memoir, A Journey, was released last week, columnists and reviewers focused on his fairly unrevealing comments about the Iraq war. Less widely reported is Blair's account of his other major misjudgment in the Middle East: his stubborn refusal to call for a ceasefire during the 2006 Lebanon war.....
A Journey thus presents Blair's actions in summer 2006 as those of a committed ideologue, not simply Bush's poodle as previously charged. Blair seems driven by a world view that, though not explicitly neoconservative, certainly has similarities. He sees the Middle East through a largely religious lens, frames its complex conflicts though a simplified struggle between radical and moderate Islam and is willing to use force and sacrifice lives to achieve its aims, irrespective of public and expert opinion.
However, what is most alarming about this is not necessarily the ideology behind the misjudgment in Lebanon four years ago. It is that Blair retains this misguided zeal today and somehow expects to use it to deliver the "right peace" between Israelis and Palestinians in his role as quartet envoy.
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