Blair-bashing is in full spate again, initially triggered by the setting up of the Iraq inquiry but more recently by Tony Blair’s possible bid for the EU Presidency.
Anti-war columnists have resumed dipping their pens into that special phial of vitriol reserved for our former leader and no utterance on these topics can be made without a torrent of abusive comments about the man following in its wake. The intensity and persistence of the loathing is almost pathological with repeated calls being made for Blair to be hung at the Hague, tortured, assassinated, or consigned to Hell. As is the way with the deranged, the commentors (mainly at the Guardian’s Cif site) do not seem to get bored with saying the same things over and over again.. .
It now looks like this hate campaign (orchestrated largely in this country) has frightened off some of Blair’s friends in Europe and with the Iraq inquiry due to start in earnest towards the end of this month the Blair-bashers will soon be turning their attention to it again to land the fatal blow against Blair’s political career.
Every piece of evidence submitted will be carefully scrutinised for anything that can prove Blair was wrong. . Every scrap of damaging material will be inflated and, dare I say, sexed-up to fit their “Get Blair” agenda. Newspapers, broadcasting channels, and bloggers will be competing with each other to discover the “smoking gun” that will finally ruin Blair’s reputation. And there will be no question of waiting for the Inquiry’s verdict before they deliver their verdict.
It was this scenario that prompted a group of fair-minded people to set up an online petition with the catchy title, BAN BLAIR-BAITING.
As it says in the preamble
“Bear-baiting, whereby a tethered bear was attacked by a pack of dogs, was outlawed in this country in 1835. It is now time to stop BLAIR-baiting, i.e. attacks on our former Prime Minister by the dogs of anti-war. Less metaphorically it can be defined as the constant incitement of hatred against Tony Blair for taking us to war in Iraq.”
The preamble then points out that many people are already calling for the inquiry to be a trial of Tony Blair’s so called war crimes “except that unlike a normal trial Tony Blair has been presumed to be guilty in advance” and suggests that those who take this view should follow the same rules as a trial and stay silent until the outcome of “the trial” is known.
The petition itself reads as follows
“We, the undersigned agree that Blair-baiting should NOT be allowed to prejudice the outcome of the Iraq war inquiry. We therefore call upon the media and other interested parties to refrain from such activity for the duration of the inquiry.”
It has already attracted the signatures of John Rentoul (who has also blogged on it for the Independent), Oliver Kamm, Tom Harris MP and Sedgefield’s Paul Trippett and John Burtonl. It has also been signed by people from all over the world. Some of their associated comments have been quite moving.
Here’s a couple from Iraq
“When Saddam’s people came to our village a nightmare became reality. Today ,my country is a changed place. But please do not leave us to the mercy of the suicide bombers. They are not true Iraqis or true Muslims. We are not ready for you to go yet. Not yet.”
“I am and my family are deeply grateful for the salvation from
Saddam’s terror by Mr.Blair. I don’t understand why so many people attack him.He only
wanted to help .He did not tell lies. Saddam’s regime was as terrific(horrfic??) as explained by Mr. Blair. It is easy for people living in the West to criticise. They don’t have to live here and don’t get killed by terrorists.”
from Afghanistan
“Our enemy is not Tony Blair but the Taleban”
From Bulgaria
“Mr Blair you are a true leader. You have stepped forth when all others have stepped back.”
from the USA
“No witchhunt!”
from Uganda
“Why are all eyes on Tony’s failures and no eyes on his achievements all over the world?”
from Ireland
“He should not be at the Hague but at Stockholm receiving the Nobel Prize for what he achieved in Northern Ireland”
from Iran
“I wish he was still in power and could help MY country. It is good to know that not all Western leaders are looking away but that some take actions. Be proud of your former PM, Brits”
If you agree that whatever the perceived faults of our former Prime Minister, Blair-baiting should play no part in the coverage of the Iraq inquiry then I urge you to stand up and be counted by signing the petition. Should you be worried about possible “repercussions” please bear in mind that you can sign anonymously and that your email address will not be shown.
PS To those who are poised to send in the usual Blair-baiting responses I say, don’t bother, you will only be proving my point.Anti-war columnists have resumed dipping their pens into that special phial of vitriol reserved for our former leader and no utterance on these topics can be made without a torrent of abusive comments about the man following in its wake. The intensity and persistence of the loathing is almost pathological with repeated calls being made for Blair to be hung at the Hague, tortured, assassinated, or consigned to Hell. As is the way with the deranged, the commentors (mainly at the Guardian’s Cif site) do not seem to get bored with saying the same things over and over again.. .
It now looks like this hate campaign (orchestrated largely in this country) has frightened off some of Blair’s friends in Europe and with the Iraq inquiry due to start in earnest towards the end of this month the Blair-bashers will soon be turning their attention to it again to land the fatal blow against Blair’s political career.
Every piece of evidence submitted will be carefully scrutinised for anything that can prove Blair was wrong. . Every scrap of damaging material will be inflated and, dare I say, sexed-up to fit their “Get Blair” agenda. Newspapers, broadcasting channels, and bloggers will be competing with each other to discover the “smoking gun” that will finally ruin Blair’s reputation. And there will be no question of waiting for the Inquiry’s verdict before they deliver their verdict.
It was this scenario that prompted a group of fair-minded people to set up an online petition with the catchy title, BAN BLAIR-BAITING.
As it says in the preamble
“Bear-baiting, whereby a tethered bear was attacked by a pack of dogs, was outlawed in this country in 1835. It is now time to stop BLAIR-baiting, i.e. attacks on our former Prime Minister by the dogs of anti-war. Less metaphorically it can be defined as the constant incitement of hatred against Tony Blair for taking us to war in Iraq.”
The preamble then points out that many people are already calling for the inquiry to be a trial of Tony Blair’s so called war crimes “except that unlike a normal trial Tony Blair has been presumed to be guilty in advance” and suggests that those who take this view should follow the same rules as a trial and stay silent until the outcome of “the trial” is known.
The petition itself reads as follows
“We, the undersigned agree that Blair-baiting should NOT be allowed to prejudice the outcome of the Iraq war inquiry. We therefore call upon the media and other interested parties to refrain from such activity for the duration of the inquiry.”
It has already attracted the signatures of John Rentoul (who has also blogged on it for the Independent), Oliver Kamm, Tom Harris MP and Sedgefield’s Paul Trippett and John Burtonl. It has also been signed by people from all over the world. Some of their associated comments have been quite moving.
Here’s a couple from Iraq
“When Saddam’s people came to our village a nightmare became reality. Today ,my country is a changed place. But please do not leave us to the mercy of the suicide bombers. They are not true Iraqis or true Muslims. We are not ready for you to go yet. Not yet.”
“I am and my family are deeply grateful for the salvation from
Saddam’s terror by Mr.Blair. I don’t understand why so many people attack him.He only
wanted to help .He did not tell lies. Saddam’s regime was as terrific(horrfic??) as explained by Mr. Blair. It is easy for people living in the West to criticise. They don’t have to live here and don’t get killed by terrorists.”
from Afghanistan
“Our enemy is not Tony Blair but the Taleban”
From Bulgaria
“Mr Blair you are a true leader. You have stepped forth when all others have stepped back.”
from the USA
“No witchhunt!”
from Uganda
“Why are all eyes on Tony’s failures and no eyes on his achievements all over the world?”
from Ireland
“He should not be at the Hague but at Stockholm receiving the Nobel Prize for what he achieved in Northern Ireland”
from Iran
“I wish he was still in power and could help MY country. It is good to know that not all Western leaders are looking away but that some take actions. Be proud of your former PM, Brits”
If you agree that whatever the perceived faults of our former Prime Minister, Blair-baiting should play no part in the coverage of the Iraq inquiry then I urge you to stand up and be counted by signing the petition. Should you be worried about possible “repercussions” please bear in mind that you can sign anonymously and that your email address will not be shown.
Stan Rosenthal is a member of Progress
Stockholm is not the place for issuing Noble price for work in Northern Irland, but Oslo. Blairs days as International Player in Politics are over, if he whan`t to come back he has to give more effort to the Middle east peace peace process.
Conservative Party - Norway
Tommy Bech
Posted by: Tommy Bech | Tuesday, February 08, 2011 at 10:44 AM