Blair battles ''poodle'' jibes
Nick Assinder | 05.02.2003 05:20
"Tony Blair is no more than George Bush's poodle."
It is a jibe that stings the prime minister and which he is desperate to nail. But he is fighting an uphill battle. Each time he is asked whether the president is as committed as he is to seeking a second UN resolution before bombing Baghdad, he always says "yes" before quickly explaining the reasons why it may be necessary to go ahead without one. The trouble with this line is, quite simply, a large number of people do not believe it.
It is a jibe that stings the prime minister and which he is desperate to nail. But he is fighting an uphill battle. Each time he is asked whether the president is as committed as he is to seeking a second UN resolution before bombing Baghdad, he always says "yes" before quickly explaining the reasons why it may be necessary to go ahead without one. The trouble with this line is, quite simply, a large number of people do not believe it.
Blair battles "poodle" jibes
By Nick Assinder
BBC News Online political correspondent
Monday, February 3, 2003
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2721513.stm
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photos:
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38773000/jpg/_38773569_blairbush300.jpg
Blair is eager to show his influence over Bush
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38773000/jpg/_38773567_blairbush150.jpg
Poodle jibes hit home
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38773000/jpg/_38773571_saddam150.jpg
Saddam is defying UN
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He did not say so out loud - but Tony Blair wanted his backbenchers to believe he spent last weekend once again using his influence on George Bush not to rush into war.
He was delighted that the president had agreed to continue down the UN route, he said, suggesting George Bush would not have done so without his powers of persuasion.
And there was no way Britain was being "led by the nose" into a war with Iraq, he said.
Some of his rebel backbenchers appeared to believe it and were reassured.
Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy, amongst others, was not so sure.
Twice he pressed the prime minister to declare, if push came to shove, which route he would take - the US one or the UN one.
Uphill battle
Would he stick with Europe or walk off with America?
Mr Kennedy, who likes to think he is speaking for the majority of the electorate on this issue, was touching on the jibe which falls readily to so many lips.
"Tony Blair is no more than George Bush's poodle."
It is a jibe that stings the prime minister and which he is desperate to nail. But he is fighting an uphill battle.
Each time he is asked whether the president is as committed as he is to seeking a second UN resolution before bombing Baghdad, he always says "yes" before quickly explaining the reasons why it may be necessary to go ahead without one.
Useful tool
The trouble with this line is, quite simply, a large number of people do not believe it.
And the president's comments after the weekend war summit clearly suggest he is far less bothered about a second resolution than is the prime minister.
At worst, the critics think the prime minister is being "led by the nose" and is ready to chose America over Europe and the rest.
At best, they think that the president is only going along the UN route because it suits him to keep the international community on board. For the moment.
The British prime minister is merely a useful tool for keeping the troublesome countries relatively sweet.
Real test to come
When it comes to the crunch, the US will do what the US wants, runs their argument.
The prime minister will probably never completely dispel this idea, which he believes it is born out of anti-Americanism.
In any case, he keeps expressing his confidence that, when the time comes, the UN will give him the second resolution.
If that is the case, much of the opposition to his actions will dissolve.
It is when the UN refuses, or delays for longer than president Bush is prepared to wait, that the real test of this policy will come.
It is a test Tony Blair desperately hopes he will never have to face.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2721513.stm
By Nick Assinder
BBC News Online political correspondent
Monday, February 3, 2003
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2721513.stm ----------------------------------------------
photos:
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38773000/jpg/_38773569_blairbush300.jpg 
Blair is eager to show his influence over Bush
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38773000/jpg/_38773567_blairbush150.jpg 
Poodle jibes hit home
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38773000/jpg/_38773571_saddam150.jpg 
Saddam is defying UN
----------------------------------------------
He did not say so out loud - but Tony Blair wanted his backbenchers to believe he spent last weekend once again using his influence on George Bush not to rush into war.
He was delighted that the president had agreed to continue down the UN route, he said, suggesting George Bush would not have done so without his powers of persuasion.
And there was no way Britain was being "led by the nose" into a war with Iraq, he said.
Some of his rebel backbenchers appeared to believe it and were reassured.
Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy, amongst others, was not so sure.
Twice he pressed the prime minister to declare, if push came to shove, which route he would take - the US one or the UN one.
Uphill battle
Would he stick with Europe or walk off with America?
Mr Kennedy, who likes to think he is speaking for the majority of the electorate on this issue, was touching on the jibe which falls readily to so many lips.
"Tony Blair is no more than George Bush's poodle."
It is a jibe that stings the prime minister and which he is desperate to nail. But he is fighting an uphill battle.
Each time he is asked whether the president is as committed as he is to seeking a second UN resolution before bombing Baghdad, he always says "yes" before quickly explaining the reasons why it may be necessary to go ahead without one.
Useful tool
The trouble with this line is, quite simply, a large number of people do not believe it.
And the president's comments after the weekend war summit clearly suggest he is far less bothered about a second resolution than is the prime minister.
At worst, the critics think the prime minister is being "led by the nose" and is ready to chose America over Europe and the rest.
At best, they think that the president is only going along the UN route because it suits him to keep the international community on board. For the moment.
The British prime minister is merely a useful tool for keeping the troublesome countries relatively sweet.
Real test to come
When it comes to the crunch, the US will do what the US wants, runs their argument.
The prime minister will probably never completely dispel this idea, which he believes it is born out of anti-Americanism.
In any case, he keeps expressing his confidence that, when the time comes, the UN will give him the second resolution.
If that is the case, much of the opposition to his actions will dissolve.
It is when the UN refuses, or delays for longer than president Bush is prepared to wait, that the real test of this policy will come.
It is a test Tony Blair desperately hopes he will never have to face.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2721513.stm
Nick Assinder
Homepage:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2721513.stm
Comments
Hide the following 6 comments
Anyone
05.02.2003 08:06
karlof1
The Poodle and the Chimp
05.02.2003 10:16
Doggy Style
Not a poodle: a coward
05.02.2003 12:59
What Blair is, and he will be even more upset if this gets around than by the poodle jibe, is a coward. He is the weak little boy who likes to hang out with the bully. He is a bully when dealing with the poor and the weak, but he's a coward whenever he faces the rich and powerful. He's a classic beta dog who wants to be in with the alphas.
COWARD
APPEASER
thats what he is
EzyPzy
Blair is a criminal not a poodle!
05.02.2003 23:15
What sort of poodle bombards and invades countries across the world with the most deadly weapons? What sort of poodle sends 30,000 troops to the Gulf? What sort of poodle is in charge of mountains of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction? What sort of poodle runs a country that if it invades Iraq will have carried out THIRTY seperate military interventions into the Middle East since the end of WW2 and owns two of the worlds largest oil companies?
By saying Blair is a poodle organisations like the SWP are promoting the idea that there is really no need to go to war with Iraq and Blair is just being weak and giving in to Bush. A poodle could change its policy and not be a poodle. A is an insignificant thing that just obeys its owner. But Blair is a criminal not a poodle. He is an imperialist and imperialism is predatory - he doesn't need any encouragement from Bush for his criminal plans. In fact Bush would have difficulty waging war without the diplomatic and other support of Blair's government. Imperialism demands more and more oil, more and more cheap labour, more and more markets, more and more power. It can't live without these things and must grab them to survive.
To abolish war we must abolish imperialism.
?
Blair is a criminal not a poodle!
05.02.2003 23:15
What sort of poodle bombards and invades countries across the world with the most deadly weapons? What sort of poodle sends 30,000 troops to the Gulf? What sort of poodle is in charge of mountains of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction? What sort of poodle runs a country that if it invades Iraq will have carried out THIRTY seperate military interventions into the Middle East since the end of WW2 and owns two of the worlds largest oil companies?
By saying Blair is a poodle organisations like the SWP are promoting the idea that there is really no need to go to war with Iraq and Blair is just being weak and giving in to Bush. A poodle could change its policy and not be a poodle. A is an insignificant thing that just obeys its owner. But Blair is a criminal not a poodle. He is an imperialist and imperialism is predatory - he doesn't need any encouragement from Bush for his criminal plans. In fact Bush would have difficulty waging war without the diplomatic and other support of Blair's government. Imperialism demands more and more oil, more and more cheap labour, more and more markets, more and more power. It can't live without these things and must grab them to survive.
To abolish war we must abolish imperialism.
?
Blair could be a hero!
06.02.2003 22:12
Doesn’t he realise that if he, even at the 11th hour came out against this war, he will be a hero to the people of Britain and the world, he will not go down in history as a warmonger, but a great statesman who stood up to the bullying and self interest of the US and saved the world from the horror of war against Iraq. Why doesn’t he do it, he knows that public opinion is against him, I am ask - what is Bush holding over him?
Stuey
e-mail:
stuey@surfanytime.co.uk
Homepage:
users.surfanytime.co.uk/stuey