Tony Blair is stepping down in the UK in the next month or so... and to be 100% honest, I have no really clear point or opinion that I'd like to set out today. I liked what Eric Hobsbawm had to say about Blair in the Guardian: "The major positive is Northern Ireland. Blair is mainly responsible for what looked like an armistice turning into a lasting peace.
"Except for Iraq, he would have been remembered as a reasonable PM, about the same level as Harold Macmillan. But Iraq wasn't an accident. He stopped being the brilliantly successful intuitive vote-getting politician and developed a missionary conviction for saving the world by armed interventions, most catastrophically with Bush. As Eden is remembered for Suez, Blair will be remembered for Iraq."
In all that I've read today, no one has said anything about Northern Ireland, which Blair played an huge roll in bringing what looks like peace to the island. And it's sort of weird to think about this here in America but Blair will be remember for Iraq, even though it was Bush and Company's idea/failure. Blair went along for the ride, he could have and should have, stood up to Bush. But he didn't. And maybe that is now Tony Blair will be remembered.
Of course Blair is still young, influential, and popular in America. Maybe he and Al Gore team up for some climate change policy pushes. Maybe Blair becomes a Jimmy Carter like figure. Who knows, time will tell. But I'll miss Blair, I don't know why, but I will.
So this is for you Tony, even if you are not a Scouser:
No comments:
Post a Comment