More trouble in store for Mr Tony
The New York Times has reports on what Robert Gates has been saying on board his plane still presumably en route for London:
"Mr. Gates planned to sound out Mr. Blair and other senior British officials on whether they plan to begin withdrawals some of their roughly 7,000 troops from Iraq sometime this year, a senior American military official told reporters traveling with Mr. Gates.Mr. Gates is also planning to brief Mr. Blair and the British defense minister, Des Browne, on the Bush plan and discuss the possibility that Britain will send additional troops to Afghanistan".
Not quite what he was hoping for I imagine, although I expect Blair would prefer our forces to be engaged in Afghanistan rather than Iraq, as it is so much easier to control access to what is or is not going on.
"Mr. Gates planned to sound out Mr. Blair and other senior British officials on whether they plan to begin withdrawals some of their roughly 7,000 troops from Iraq sometime this year, a senior American military official told reporters traveling with Mr. Gates.Mr. Gates is also planning to brief Mr. Blair and the British defense minister, Des Browne, on the Bush plan and discuss the possibility that Britain will send additional troops to Afghanistan".
Not quite what he was hoping for I imagine, although I expect Blair would prefer our forces to be engaged in Afghanistan rather than Iraq, as it is so much easier to control access to what is or is not going on.
Labels: Mr Tony, war on terror
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The troops enjoy Afghanistan rather more, also. A much more black-and-white theatre altogether.
How embarrassing for Blair to be forced to admit he doesn't know what our troop levels will be, much beyond thursday fortnight...
I doubt if TB can be bothered to exercise his waning interest on Iraq anymore. He's more focused on the Bee gee's than Baghdad at this point. TB will instead, and rather joyfully, get the Monarch of the glens to pick up the pieces.Brown considers himself an "Atlanticist" so I don't see how he can dump the Iraq commitment.Even though Iraq is a horrific mill stone around the electoral neck of NuLab.
Apparently, the latest US troop surge will be used at some point to subdue Sadr City. Iraq's going to get ever more bloody.
Imagine how a space hopper feels "reacts" having been stabbed and then sat upon by a fat person, that is how I feel everytime Blairs name is mentioned.
He isnt even worth discussing, like all vampires he drains the life from you.
Yes, he does, vampire-like, drain the life out of one.
Stamboul Tory, He is focused on how he can make a killing and live like all the people he admires so much, pop stars ... suspect Italian politicians. Money! He wants it - the proper little socialist fake that he is.
I loathe him with a cold, pure hate and I have a bottle of champagne on ice for when he falls. Here's hoping it's painful.
PH - Another uniquely Hitchian image. I can still muster more venom for Broon than Blair, although La Broon at least shuns the spotlight unlique the Blairina.
There was a gag-inducing tale I read earlier suggesting that Blair fancies his chances of teaching at Harvard. Yes, really.
Oh. My. God.
You could not make it up.
Tony Moron teaching at Harvard. Maybe they could get a double gig in the US. Cherie could get a job dancing for the New York Ballet.
I imagine ethics and principles will be popular lectures, mainly due to their brevity.
C just what is going on?
I can understand Murdoch throwing him a bone for services rendered , same with mittal.
But why would anybody want to listen to anything this failure has to say , let alone pay to hear it.
However, in the new course of 'how to be a con artist' he could perhaps do well.
As much as ND says, I can't see the troops being to happy in Afghanistan whilst we disgracefully fail to support them with the necessary helicopters and close air support.
When Broon takes over and cuts the defence budget I hope they mutiny and come home to foment a coup a la 1688.
Here is my scale of hatred:
Tony Blair - Lifetime Achievement Awards in Incompetence, Self-Regard and Compulsive Lying. Hatred level: 100% with a bullet. (As soon as they make enlarge 100%, I will move him up.)
Gordon Brown - Some grubby award or other from some Labour council somwhere for Incompetence, Chippiness, Pretensions-above-His-Station, Unjustified Intellectual Arrogance, Ugliness, Sickening Hair and Chippiness. Hatred level: 80%. Firm.
David Cameron - 21st Century Awards for Not Understanding His Job, Failing to Recognise His Tory Pedigree and Being Too Far Divorced from Normal People to Understand What Tory Voters Want. Hatred level: 80% with a bullet.
Croydonian - V good!
CU, it was a comment about relative enjoyment. Troops in Afghanistan have been expending more ammo on a single patrol than a soldier would normally see in a 12-year regular career. This is, in fact, what many of them joined for.
As for the downside, of which plenty indeed, "if you don't have a sense of humour, you shouldn't have joined" is the usual attitude.
I thought DC was quite good with Marr today. I noticed toady lefty Marr was trying to ask questions this week rather than just slavering as last week when he was interviewing Broon.
He is yet another good reason to vote of secession.
Blair can't slide himself into academia. He's no great shakes intellectually.They won't touch him. The Carlyle Group, Big oil and/or Big Pharma plus a spot of "charity work" for Africa are what he has in mind.The UN sponsored "Alliance of Civilisations" could also pique his interest. But for Iraq, Blair's ambitions would have led God only knows where...
David Cameron would be better suited for selling Rollers on the showroom floor in Beverley Hills.
Mr Drew
The correct quote is
"If you cant take a joke you shouldnt have joined"
Verity I hate Cameron even more than I hate Blair.
I cant see even Blair being so out of touch and idiotic that he would stage a photo opportunity on a bicycledemonstarting his green credentials whilst his chauffeur followed behind with his shoes in the limo.
Zac Goldsmith should just be laughed at before being pelted with rocks and dung, inbred silver spooned arsehole.
I think the thing with Tone is that he really believes his own hype, and I suppose if he ends up at Harvard he will, so to speak, be able to
write his own history. The man is so delusional that he really believes that he is a popular, principled and heroic leader, rather than perhaps the most underperforming PM since the war.
He has had three massive majorities and how has he really changed the country? Well, there's the sow's ear that is the constitutional settlement (Lords, the nations and Europe), the packing of public bodies with his pals, a hosing down of his client vote with money - with no visible improvement in the services we get from the public sector, and the highest level of graft, corruption and generally foul play in public life since the end of the rotten boroughs. Some legacy, but he thinks it is a good one.
So, yes, he will want to get seriously rich as a director of Bechtel or whoever, tour the lecture circuit for the money and the adulation, but Harvard or wherever would deliver the 'kudos'.
Rant over.
Nick - I suspect you are right on Afghanistan as a posting. In the otherwise rather weak 'Jarhead', a US Sergeant Major character delivers a lengthy speech during a lull in the fighting (Gulf War 1) about how easy he could have it as a civilian, before averring quite how much he loves his job and how he would never willingly do anything else.
I thought DC was quite good with Marr today
Agreed CU but I though the EU was the fault line .
The man is so delusional
Narcissistic Personality Disorder - widespread nowadays - but very dangerous
Narcissistic personality disorder is a serious emotional disturbance characterized by a grandiose, or extremely exaggerated, sense of self-importance. Individuals with this disorder lack empathy for other people but need constant admiration from them.
Narcissistic personality disorder is one of several types of personality disorders, all of which reflect an inability in the affected person to accept the demands and limitations of the world. These disorders may regularly interfere with a person's behavior and interactions with family, friends or co-workers. Among the other personality disorders are paranoid personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.
Although people with narcissistic personality disorder have an exaggerated image of their own importance, they have vulnerable self-esteems and often don't like themselves. Therefore, they seek attention that confirms their grandiosity.
Mayo
Touché, Mr Hitchens, it is now I who have played the ass.
C - yes; a former US colleague of mine at (ahem) Enron could talk of little other than how he had left the US Army one month before Saddam invaded Kuwait. Missing out on Desert Storm etc seemed to have left him hollow. These may seem strange emotions but they are real.
The first of Cameron's many, many self-lauding stupidities was that imbicilic trip to Norway for a painfully obviously posed photo op that was totally empty of any meaning. In fact, why did this idiot use up one of his precious stupid "carbon footprints" to go to Norway when he could have bought a parka and booked a photo studio and a team of Huskies from Central Casting. They could have retouched the special effects in later. He went there to do absolutely nothing but have his picture taken. He didn't even have any meetings. Nothing. Self-congratulatory moron.
That was my first pinprick of hatred. I had an uneasy sense that he had been an observant student of Blair's empty gestures.
Next was hawking his disabled kid around the magazine and features editors. He seems to be under the impression that having a disabled child makes him look "modern".
Next were his disloyalty to the second greatest Tory of them all - Baroness Thatcher. Next, he left the greatest Englishman in living memory, Winston Churchill, off his most admired list - but found room for Aneurin Bevan. B-a-r-f.
Next on the Richter scale is the windmill on the roof and all this "green" blether when he doesn't understand any of the science of it and isn't smart enough to discern an obvious con when he sees it. Plus, of course, hug a hoodie and similar rubbish that tells us he has never encountered a thug in his life and he doesn't know that some people encounter thugs, hoodlums, hoodies and gangs on a daily basis in their neighbourhood, and some elderly people are confined to their homes because they fear to go out. He doesn't care that the police have failed these people, although compiling accurate figures and reports on the crimes perpetrated against them, 'for our files'.
He doesn't care about other people's children. He doesn't care if they fail to learn to read or do maths at the local comprehensive and that parents have no say in how the schools are run. Dave is all about ME ME ME ME.
He actually supports Blair in some mad symbiosis. Blair is such a corrupt, inept easy target, but Cameron can't deliver that punch to the kidneys because, I think, he rather likes Tony.
I can understand why you hate him more than Blair. I have put him at the 80% loathing level because I feel he may get kicked out before the election. If he leads the Tories he has betrayed and deserted into the next election, I will revise my scoring.
Croydonian - Emily will not be joining Bechtel or any large American corporation. He might get on the board of a medium sized company, but companies like Bechtel are red in tooth and claw. Stupid little nancies with David Niven accents get invited to their wives' cocktail parties and charity dinners, but not to sit on the boards of these 800-lb gorillas.
He could probably get on the board of Southwest Airlines or something. (Which is a very good airline, by the way. But it is not a corporate giant.)
He may manage a "visiting distinguished person" or similar for a couple of terms at Harvard, but a lot of these frat boys come from Republican families and I don't think they will cut him much, if any, slack. In fact, he'll probably get asked more challenging questions than Dave asks in Parliament here. The young can be so crool.
Well, Mr Mania, that's told us - I knew there was worse than just multiple personality disorder... what a list to choose from Voyager, I could almost feel normal.
The thing about Blair is, he has a quite specific condition called 'ability to impress Americans'. A certain type of Brit knows this trick from birth. As has been commented on already, it can be turned into hard $$$.
Nick Drew - Yes and no. What the Republicans liked about Blair was they saw him as a stand-up dude who supported the US. And Americans, you may be surprised to learn, really do get depressed sometimes about how misunderstood America is in a jealous world.
He will definitely get speaking engagements, but they won't earn him the kind of money they need. Plus there are a lot of astute conservative commentators in the US who can see through Blair. I would guess - I don't know - that William Buckley regards him with unalloyed contempt, for example. But you know, about six months ago, they touted themselves around Hollywood and the only offer they got was Governor Schwarzenegger offered him a bit part in his next Terminator movie. To save Blair's face, I'm sure.
My prediction, folks is, a foundation funded by the Saudis. Opportunistic and morals-free Bill Clinton has one, and Jimbo Carter has one. Blair will end up with a foundation in Ryadh - aka Fun City - and probably a consultancy in DC. The consultance will be something to do with doing business in the EU. Blair knows nothing at all about business and very little about the EU, but he's a con man. He'll pull it off.
Mr Drew
Johnson:
"Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier, or not having been at sea."
VERITY ON CAMERON
Sorry to be late been writing to the local Press.....anyway
No no Verity you are rushing up to your room and slamming the door on real politics , This sort of doctrinal idealism is all very well for writing exciting essays and , I gather , does good business in Old Labour dens but not in the Conservative Party.
You have not understood the position David Cameron is in , you are regardless of the great likelihood of a disastrous Broon presidency and you have , selected for emotional content in precisely the way you claim to despise . What you are articulating is not a dislike of David Cameron it is more a dislike of the world as it is . Yes well I can understand it, but there is no reverse gear. Its all about “re- envisioning “…just kidding . Allow me to elaborate.
I also was unimpressed and the battle of the sick kids and Brian Walden tellingly asked if any decent human being could do such thing. I wouldn’t but I am not a politicians and if I was I would lose. My mother put it into context for me she said
“Oh do grow up politicians aren`t people “ She is right and from this I saw something I like about the boy king . He has a ruthless determination to win He also had a specific silver spoon accusation to over come and it worked. He was not a shoe in ;the Conservative Party turned to him in desperation because the fresh spring of self preservation still runs clear, and they were going to lose. Losing …get a taste of what that will be like , waking up to a Socialist with five years and no consequences. It is unthinkable.
The anniversary of 9.11 speech was, I admit , a mistake. It was .however a slightly inadvisable shift that Simon Heffer who has sold many words on his an Cameroon theme has since admitted that he supported .David Cameron is quite right , in my view , to support our support for the US but to ensure it is sold dearly . Simon Heffer a professional opniner, and his followers, have made a nonsense of there whining on policy by their subsequent recants. The whole notion of anti marketing directed at Margaret Thatcher was amplified at every turn but the Telegraph for the purposes of mischievously fermenting anger amongst their readership . David Cameron has , for political reasons distanced himself fro Margaret Thatcher. Simple .It had to be done and the great Lady herself would have entirely understood . She was highly conciliatory to the centre herself in 1979 and had many advantages the Sun god princling does not .A collapsing economy ,and a intact reputation for economic competence notably.
He did not leave Winston Churchill off the list of Great Britain’s it was the Conservative Party under David Cameron that exposed the limp twit Sean Laing for the maggot he is safely tucked into the “History Practitioners advisory team” which I take to be some Nu Lab horror . Au contraire David Cameron reiterated to day his wish for History to become central in the curriculam and by history he means the culturally cohering history that would hardly leave out Winston Churchill. It would probably include his period in the Liberal party and his many !”One Nation Conservative “statements . Wrong on Cameron and I `d be a wee bit careful on how you interpret Winston Churchill . It s easy to be anachronistic .
On the Green isues well professing a desire for the planet to remain intact is hardy controversial is it . I was present when Norman Tebbit put the real complaint against it, ”Where is the party that wants to destroy the world then ?” he said . Well quite. David Cameron has achieved the almost magical trick of entirely re-branding the Conservative Pary without committing himself to a single silly policy. He has also kept the focus exactly where it should be on the record of the Labour Party . To solidify policy early would be a childish error .He is getting it right wooing the centre whilst winking to the right and if you are looking there are plenty of winks .
“The Police are the last unreformed Public service” , hear hear
“The constitutional dispensation in the UK must be re examined” Indeed
“ green taxes must be instead of and not additional good taxes , for example on growth and employment “ Yummy , Irwin Selzer will be chuffed.
“ the tax system needs to radically simplified” well iyou know what that means ,it means reduced.
He cannot say he will reduce taxes because the 800,000 people that decide the election include many in subsidised jobs and they will hear redundancy. He has to be careful .
Do you really want another heroic failure like Enoch Powell whose effeminate delight in his principles shut the right down for decades .
He continually makes reference to decentralising the State and allowing a greater role for Charities. In this he has been helped by IDS an intellectual pygmy certainly but one propped well on the right .
The left will try to besmirch our golden hero with tales of his involvement in right wing agendas in the past and there is certainly nothing in his past to show any deep liking for “liberal Conservatism “…what beautifully misleading phrase that is for Liberals to suck on
There is no scope for an outright Thatcherite agenda now.It is inevitable that David Cameron in chasing new voters will annoy the party ,and certainly those to the right of it .As Con Home were saying Doughty Street , it is the performance of the Shadow cabinet that is lacking. As they also said , it isn’t easy for them when everyone loves David wishes the fragrant saviour of our country well.
He has the Nietzchian will to slash through he Gordian knot that Broon is tying for him even now .The road he is given is a winding one but come the hour come the man.
War needed courage
Despair needed Vision
Now we need clinical manipulator of the system . We have one.
Perhaps you'd care to post again sober, Newmania? So we could actually follow the trajectory of your thoughts? (I have no objections to reading alcohol-fuelled posts, but they should at least offer threads of comprehension that the reader can grasp as lifelines.)
I simply do not like David Cameron. I don't like his face. I don't like his blog. I don't like his performance in Parliament. I don't like his statements. I don't like his pathetically inept photo ops. (BTW, there are very fine British Husky dog actors who were denied work by Cameron's adventure in Norway. British dogs could have done just as well if not better.)
There is just something about this fellow that I ... well, don't like. As we're currently stuck with him, I hope I am wrong.
V/N - I'm keeping out of this one... Too late, and I'm not hugely inspired.
However, it does put me in mind of another one of those dinner table games - you want, you'd settle for, you get.
Hitch - yup, I do.
A teensy bit wordy...cough cough but nope I cannot blame intoxication.I was only drunk with glee at the prospect of winning a general election.
Well at this matter of fact is pretty clear.
He did not leave Winston Churchill off the list of Great Britain’s it was the Conservative Party under David Cameron that exposed the limp twit Sean Laing for the maggot he is safely tucked into the “History Practitioners advisory team” which I take to be some Nu Lab horror . Au contraire David Cameron reiterated today , his wish for History to become central in the curriculam and by history he means the culturally cohering history that would hardly leave out Winston Churchill. It would probably include his period in the Liberal party and his many !”One Nation Conservative “statements . Wrong on Cameron and I `d be a wee bit careful on how you interpret Winston Churchill . It s easy to be anachronistic .
Newmania- a bravura performance. Repeating the mantras of the 1980s won't work anymore.The question is simple:
Who do you trust to lead a Eurosceptic government, to reduce the tax burden, and to downsize the centralised state? David Cameron or Gordon Brown?
In fact, Cameron has written a good piece in todays Torygraph on what he stands for, and where he is trying to lead the party.
He says "I believe in social responsibility, not state control...we are pledged to share the proceeds of economic growth between public services and lower taxes, thereby ensuring that over time the state takes a smaller share of national wealth."
'can't imagine Brown coming out with anything like that.
IT-I must say that is unexpected support IT. I am very far from gruntled with DC and the paradox is that I need a certain number to defect because that tells him how far he can go.
Yes the approach of the 80s will not work but the free market theory side of it has plenty more life.It is the old style social controls that went with individual freedom that have to be re cast. Conservatism has never been the same thing as anarchy.Thisis what he is saying , far better than I can.
As a politician he is clearly the most talented leader since Margaret Thatcher by a country mile and I believe his heart is in the right place .
I believe his heart is in the right place .
shame his head is up his backside.
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