TONY BLAIR'S FAREWELL

Some may belittle politics. But we who are engaged in it know it is where people stand tall. Although I know it has its many harsh contentions, it is still the arena that sets the heart beating a little faster.

If it is on occasion the place of low skullduggery, it is more often the place for the pursuit of noble causes, and I wish everyone, friend or foe, well.

-- British Prime Minister Tony Blair

Conservatives may not agree with Tony Blair on a lot of issues but he has been a great friend to the U.S. and he "gets it" when it comes to the war on terror. I thought the above quote by him was an excellent quote to say in his farewell speech. Pretty impressive!!

Gateway Pundit also points out how Tony's wife, Cherie Blair got a little dig in at the media on her way out. You go Cherie!!

To top it all off, Bush got a great dig in about Jimmy Carter in his remarks on Tony Blair.

UPDATED AND BUMPED: AT LEAST THE SOCIALIST BLAIR UNDERSTANDS WW4 - but is it too late?

BUMPED

TONY BLAIR:

I was stopped by someone the other week who said it was not surprising there was so much terrorism in the world when we invaded their countries (meaning Afghanistan and Iraq). No wonder Muslims felt angry.

When he had finished, I said to him: tell me exactly what they feel angry about. We remove two utterly brutal and dictatorial regimes; we replace them with a United Nations-supervised democratic process and the Muslims in both countries get the chance to vote, which incidentally they take in very large numbers. And the only reason it is difficult still is because other Muslims are using terrorism to try to destroy the fledgling democracy and, in doing so, are killing fellow Muslims.

What’s more, British troops are risking their lives trying to prevent the killing. Why should anyone feel angry about us? Why aren’t they angry about the people doing the killing? The odd thing about the conversation is that I could tell it was the first time he had even heard the alternative argument.

This extremism can be defeated. But it will be defeated only by recognising that we have not created it; it cannot be negotiated with; pandering to its sense of grievance will only encourage it; and only by confronting it, the methods and the ideas, will we win.

YES. AND WE NEED TO CONFRONT IT ON EVERY FRONT: DIPLOMATIC; ECONOMIC, AND KINETIC.

THE SOONER THE LEFT ACCEPTS THIS THE SOONER WE WIN, AND THE LOWER THE CASUALTIES.

BUT THAT'S NOT LIKELY ANYTIME SOON:

THE DEMOCRATS ARE DOMINATED BY DENIALISTS, APPEASERS AND "ANTI-WAR" DOVES WHO HAVE ALWAYS BLAMED AMERICA FIRST.

AND THE UK'S LABOUR PARTY, AND THE REST OF THE CHIC DEGEGERATI OF THE CONTINENT'S POSTMODERN LEFT BLAME THE US, ISRAEL AND JUDEO-CHRISTIAN/RACIST-WESTERN CIVILIZATION.

BLAIR IS THE EXCEPTION ON THE LEFT. ALONG WITH LIEBERMAN.

BTW: I HAVE LONG WORRIED ABOUT WHAT MIGHT HAVE TO HAPPEN HERE TO GET THE LEFT BACK ON OUR SIDE FOR KEEPS.

I THINK IT'S GONNA MAKE 9/11 LOOK LIKE A PICNIC. AND IT MAY BE COMING SOON - AT LEAST THAT'S WHAT AL QAEDA IS THREATENING.

Update: LGF has the video --- Jihad Watch has some analysis. SITE (hat tip JW) has this:

The demands are emphatically stated by Gadahn [Azzam al Amriki] to not be construed as negotiations, for Muslims do not negotiate with “baby killers and war criminals”. These entail the removal of American military forces from Muslim lands, cease of encroachment into the political, social, and economic affairs in these countries, and to free Muslim captives from prisons.

Should these demands not be met, Gadahn states, “means that you and your people will- Allah willing- experience things which will make you forget all about the horrors of September 11th, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Virginia Tech.” Withdrawing from Iraq alone, Gadahn states, does not qualify as acceptance of terms, and he mockingly advices for Bush to stop his “futile farcical maneuvers on Capital Hill.”

LOOKIT FOLKS: This tape is a traditional Koranic WARNING required before they undertake a MAJOR attack which will kill thousands at the least.

Bin Laden was sharply criticized by jihado-mullahs/imams for NOT WARNING the USA before 9/11, and this tape EXPLICITLY does warn us over and over. he uses the term "SUFFICIENT JUSTIFICATION" many times. This is the whole point of the tape, and it is made in English by an American so that there is absolutely no way anybody here in the USA can say we weren't warned.

This tape makes ANY attack - any MEGA attack using any WMD, including radiological/nuclear- OK as far as the islamo-fascists are concerned.

ASIDE: AND NOTE THIS ERROR AZZAM AL AMRIKI MADE IN THE TAPE: He called the USA's support fore Israel "moral support." He did not say it was IMMORAL support. This is a Freudian slip: deep down he knows that he and his ilk are on the side of immorality, and that the USA and Israel are on the side of all which is moral, just, good and right.

KUDOS TO TONY BLAIR

Tony Blair is by no means a conservative but he gets the "War on Terror". Blair's parting words yesterday were remarkable and courageous and I for one commend him for them.

We took a decision that we thought was very difficult, Blair said. I thought then, and I think now, it was the right decision.

Sometimes it's a controversial relationship - at least over in my country, he said Thursday. I have taken the view that Britain should stand shoulder-to-shoulder with America after Sept. 11. I have never deviated from that view. I do not regret that view.

Too bad more politicians don't have a backbone like Tony Blair. Stand for what you believe in, no matter what the cost. Churchill would've been proud.

TONY BLAIR RESIGNS

A decade after he was first elected to office, Blair has now announced his resignation. I wish I could credit him more than I can, but unfortunately, there's a few little things on his record that simply cannot be ignored, such as how just a few months ago, as reported by Melanie Phillips:

Last February, Tony Blair suggested that the British government might be prepared to do business with ‘the more sensible elements of Hamas’ in order to restore negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. This was about as rational as suggesting in 1942, say, that one might do business with the more sensible elements of the SS. But hey — this is Britain. It does appeasement. Produce a sect of fanatics who are totally beyond reason and bent on wiping out every last Jew and American, defeating the west and taking over the world and Britain will be beating a path to their door, cap in hand. This is because, in its unsurpassed cynicism, Britain believes there is no-one on the planet who is not basically turnable, susceptible to bribes or threats or flattery or what have you because everyone is out for their own self-interest.

I am told that shortly after making this remark about talking to the ‘more sensible elements of Hamas’, Blair was rudely disabused of such fantasies, not by Israel or America but by two somewhat unexpected sources. The first was Mahmoud Abbas, the front end of the Palestinian pantomime horse. The second was King Abdullah of Jordan. Both told Blair with great force that there were no sensible elements of Hamas, and talking to anyone inside that murderous organisation would be a total disaster because it would merely strengthen it.

Both men, of course, fear with very good reason that Hamas will destroy them. Britain does not. Sometimes, self-interest calls the bluff of even the most profound cynic. But how appalling — and how terrifying — that given half a chance the British government would feed Israel to the Hamas monster, while pretending to itself all the while that it was a pussycat. How little Britain has learned, even now, about the Middle East.

And how little Blair himself seems to have learned that you cannot lead a convincing war on terrorism if you're going to separate between specific elements. I really can't feel sorry to see him depart.

It looks like Gordon Brown is set to replace him as prime minister of Britain now, and given how crummy he is, that's exactly why I'm so glad that Nicholas Sarkozy was elected president of France. Without Sarkozy, Israel could find itself without any real friends in Europe.

IRANIAN HOSTAGE SITUATION ESCALATES

The situation in Iran continues to get worse. Why? As Rush points out its because Iran knows that no one is going to have the guts to do anything. Here is an excerpt of his comments from yesterday's show:

The Iranians have guts. They just announced today, "Oh, guess what? We've changed our mind. We're not going to release the female prisoner that we've got, and what's anybody going to do about it?" They know nobody's going to do anything about it. They know the Brits aren't going to do anything about it, except officially condemn it via diplomatic channels. Yip yip, yahoo! You think that's going to excite or bother Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? The Iranians have a history of not releasing hostages until a president in this country is elected that they fear. In the last case, it would be of course Ronaldus Magnus.

Read about Newt's solution that Rush talks about here.

I love all the liberals whining to high heaven about Geneva Conventions and how the U.S. should follow them but no one says a word when Hitler Jr. of Iran completely violates them.

I know I shouldn't be shocked but I can't believe the fact that liberals are defending Iran in all of this.

The latest from Tony Blair:

Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday that Britain would not negotiate over British sailors and marines held hostage by Iran. In an interview with ITV News, Blair again called for the unconditional return of the 15 Royal Navy personnel who were seized by Iranian authorities last week.

This is what the UN is doing (pathetic):

Britain took its case to free its 15 sailors and marines held by Iran to the United Nations on Thursday, asking the Security Council to support a statement that would "deplore" Tehran's action and demand their immediate release.

But Security Council diplomats said the brief press statement circulated by Britain's U.N. Mission is likely to face problems from Russia and others because it says the Britons were "operating in Iraqi waters"—a point that Iran contests.

A press statement is the weakest action the Security Council can take, but the statement must be approved by all council members. Diplomats said Britain was also weighing a stronger presidential statement, which unlike a press statement, is read at a formal Security Council meeting and becomes part of its official record.

Previously:
Tony Blair Speaks Out Against Iran

TONY BLAIR SPEAKS OUT AGAINST IRAN

I can't believe how little coverage the Drive By Media is giving to Iran kidnapping 15 British soldiers. My local paper, The KC Star had a small article from the AP about it in Sunday's paper buried on the 18th page with this pathetic title, 15 Seized British Confess, Iran Says. Al Jazeera would be proud of the AP for taking Iran's side on the issue.

Tony Blair finally came out swinging, warning Iran. Here is an excerpt:

"It simply is not true that they went into Iranian territorial waters and I hope the Iranian government understands how fundamental an issue this is for us," Mr Blair said.

"We have certainly sent the message back to them very clearly indeed. They should not be under any doubt at all about how seriously we regard this act, which is unjustified and wrong."

Right Wing Rebel wrote an excellent post on this and I wholeheartedly agreed with his last 3 paragraphs:

"We already know that Iran has been helping the terrorists (I refuse to use the word insurgents) in Iraq, weeks ago ABC News reported about Iranian made weapons seized at the Iran/Iraq border. Also, Iran has vowed not to stop its nuclear enrichment activities and will limit its involvement with the IAEA.

Now they engage in what is nothing short of an act of war by holding prisoner British Sailors. How much longer is the US, Britain and the rest of the Western World going to stand by and let Ahmadinejad and the fundamentalist Iranian government bend us over throughout this long drawn out process of “diplomacy,” before somebody finally stands up to them?

Tony Blair is no Winston Churchill, but he’s no Neville Chamberlain either. Lets see if he has enough sack to stand up to the Hitler of Iran."