Skip to content or view screen version

Arrogance and greed of Tony Blair

Keith Parkins | 14.08.2010 15:17 | Anti-militarism | Iraq | Repression | World

The arrogance and greed of Tony Blair beggars belief.

Tony Blair 'alleged' war Criminal
Tony Blair 'alleged' war Criminal


Ex-PM Tony Blair is due next month in Waterstone's for a book signing session for the lunch of his book, A Journey.

Outside will be Stop the War Coalition calling for him to be indicted for War Crimes. Inside unprecedented security for a book signing event.

 http://stopwar.org.uk/

Anyone who wishes to see Blair will have to be searched, all personal possessions, bags, backpacks and briefcases, must be handed in and all purchasers must wear a wristband giving them access to the man himself.

Blair is refusing to allow any photographs to be taken. No personal messages will be written in his book, A Journey.

I have met many authors. I have chatted with them, they have been only too happy to write in their books, photographs have been allowed. Noam Chomsky, Tariq Ali, John Pilger, Tony Benn. I have been at the Guildford Book Festival for the last few years.

 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/11/384995.html
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/10/411305.html
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/10/440470.html

Never have I come across this appalling and arrogant behaviour.

One author I have never met is Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho. I am told he is always courteous, will chat to the people whose books he is only too happy to sign, even if it means a book signing session lasts for hours. His only request is to be given water to drink and time for periodic cigarette breaks.

No former Prime Minister has behaved like Blair, who from the day of leaving office has cashed in.

At the Iraq Inquiry he was the only witness who was obliged to slink out the back door, such is his contempt for the British people. The Metropolitan Police ran up a £273,000 security bill when Blair attended the Chilcot inquiry.

Reg Keys, whose son Thomas was killed in Iraq in 2003, has called on Blair to pay for his security. ‘He is making a fortune out of what I would define as blood money,’ he said. ‘He has got no shame, his very existence is offensive.’

Blair is even cashing in on the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Also see

Tony Blair's autobiography signing 'to have extremely high security levels'
 http://www.metro.co.uk/news/837801-tony-blairs-autobiography-signing-to-have-extremely-high-security-levels

Will Tony Blair be prosecuted for his Iraq war crimes?
 http://stopwar.org.uk/content/view/2022/27/

Tony Blair as consultant to Rio 2016 Games!
 http://keithpp.wordpress.com/2010/02/02/tony-blair-as-consultant-to-rio-2016-games/

Open letter to Governor Sergio Cabral
 http://keithpp.wordpress.com/2010/02/04/open-letter-to-governor-sergio-cabral/

Keith Parkins
- Homepage: http://stopwar.org.uk/

Comments

Hide the following 25 comments

Alleged war criminal?

14.08.2010 15:27

So he isn't then is he.

You could type "alleged" in front of any statement to get anyway from telling a direct lie.
We could also call him an "alleged" hero of the peace in equal measure.

Surprising how many tabloid dirty tricks are replicated on indymedia nowadays.
Just trying to stir shit up and get hit ratings is what its about.

sad


Citizens Arrests

14.08.2010 16:29

Someone please correct me if i'm wrong here; A war criminal is someone who has been convicted of war crimes. There is sufficient evidence to demonstrate that Tony Blair is guilty of breaking numerous laws pertaining to the legal conduct of war. He hasn't been convicted yet, for fairly obvious reasons, so technically, until he is convicted his status as a 'War Criminal' can at best be described as 'alleged'.

Whatever. As I said, there is ample evidence of his crimes (see links below) and he needs to be brought to justice. It seems fairly obvious that no one with authority is going to do it so, its up to us. If someone can attempt to perform a citizens arrest at this book-signing, well, thats a good start. And there's a nice financial reward for it too (there's £16,414 in the 'arrest Blair' pot at the moment -  http://www.arrestblair.org/)

 http://www.arrestblair.org/blairs-crimes

 http://www.arrestblair.org/performing-a-citizens-arrest

 http://www.makewarshistory.org.uk/index/guide-to-war-law.html



embee


reality bites?

14.08.2010 17:27

Can you honestly say that you are surprised? He may be a civilian, but he is the former prime minister and is responsible for this countries involvement in 4 military campaigns, in the less than 10 years he was in office.. (Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, and of course Iraq).. I doubt very much that he had very much to do with the security arrangements - that will have been his security detail.. and would you honestly want to have your picture taken with him? have you lowered the standard of people you like to be seen with?



Bhima
mail e-mail: auragni@gmail.com


no

14.08.2010 17:59

>> Someone please correct me if i'm wrong here; A war criminal is someone who has been convicted of war crimes. There is sufficient evidence to demonstrate that Tony Blair is guilty of breaking numerous laws pertaining to the legal conduct of war. He hasn't been convicted yet, for fairly obvious reasons, so technically, until he is convicted his status as a 'War Criminal' can at best be described as 'alleged'.

Sorry but you are wrong. There has is not sufficient evidence or a credible case put forward to say that Tony Blair is guilty of war crimes. Therefore he cannot be called a war criminal.

pauline (lawyer)


The Nuremburg Trials, and the Geneva Conventions Says He is a war criminal

14.08.2010 20:17

The Nuremburg Trials (1945) chaired by the U.S. Judge Jackson wrote into international law that the planning and doing of aggressive war is the supreme international crime on the planet earth, as it actuates all other crimes high, low, big or small. He further says it is the supreme international crime if Germany does it or the U.S.A. does it. As Britian is signed on to this anti-fascist covenant it is obvious to everyone that he is guilty of the worst supreme international crime on the planet earth. Bush Blair lied over a million died! He is guilty because he was Prime Minister, and thus responsible for the army, navy, and air force illegal violence and unjust war crimes, which have been proven throughout the world to have taken place by courts signed on to the anti-fascist covenants around the world, east, west, north and south.

He is guilty of violating the Geneva Conventions of war (1949) and the three obvious crimes his troops are guilty of is, 1) targeting and killing civilians, 2) torturing and killing prisoners of war, 3) collective punishment, such as WMD bombing villages, towns, and cities to rubble, because there just might be a militant around. The Geneva Conventions of war is another anti-fascist covenant that the British Imperialist Government is signed on to , and Blairs government deliberately has been proven a lier on the WMD and numerous other false flag claims to which he took the armed forces of Great Britian to war over.

His hidden agenda along with Bush was and is contol of the Holyland's oil, so they can control all the other markets of the world. It is an attempt to repeat empire by military force and deception of the real reasons as he faces the British people; The real terrorists are Bush and Blair. Their war is a war of state terror and only mis-nomered a war on terror. All this can be proven by written word, technology such as tv, documentaries, internet and numerous more truth full courts and world law making bodies, including the United Nations Charter, the World Court of the Hague, and the International war crimes tribunal (Bertrand Russell style) It is only a matter of timing and space before the world moves on all the evidence which is plenty and weighty. Bush and Blair are guilty and have been found guilty by the anti-fascist covenants and all the countries signed on to them. Workers of the world, unite!!

union jack


your argument is wrong

14.08.2010 21:05

> The Nuremburg Trials, and the Geneva Conventions Says He is a war criminal
The Geneva Convention in all its forms does not state that. It has got nothing to do with starting wars.
It is to do with the treatment of the victims of war. Nowhere does it state anything about the instigation of a war.

The UN authorised military action as per the consequences of failure to submit to weapons inspections. Hence the law was not illegal under international law.

pauline (lawyer)


@pauline (lawyer)

14.08.2010 21:11

"The UN authorised military action as per the consequences of failure to submit to weapons inspections. Hence the law was not illegal under international law."

There is the fact that no weapons were found ..... Your comment is pure revisionism. The neo-cons and Blair were determined to attack Iraq and shamelessly manipulated the UN and their own intelligence wings in order to do so.

Bliar


What about the UN making their decisions?

14.08.2010 22:08

Do you have any evidence to back that statement or is it merely an opinion?

pauline (lawyer)


location, date, time

14.08.2010 23:49

You forgot to provide any useful details (place, time etc)! FFS!


-----------------------------------------
Waterstone's Piccadilly
1pm, 8th September

according to:
 http://www.thebookseller.com/news/125660-page.html

i


@pauline (lawyer)

15.08.2010 14:21

"Hence the law was not illegal under international law."

Hmmm... are you sure you're a lawyer?

doubtful


The Geneva Convention Does Define War Crimes.

15.08.2010 17:52

The troll, so-called lawyer, lies when saying that the Geneva Conventions (1949) does not define War Crimes. It does define them, and further states that a country invaded by a foreign country has the legitimate right to use armed struggle to repel that invasion. Bush and Blair have taken away these international laws on the legitimate rights of the resistence by unilaterally declaring it as 'terrorism' which is exactly what the German Nazi Occupiers of France did to the French resistence fighters. Bush and Blair simply declare that the resistence is terrorism and that disallows all the international rules of war from the anti-fascist side, but in fact they are the illegal criminal aggressors for doing so.

The Geneva conventions further says that it is illegal to regime change the country that is invaded, and occupied by a foreign power. It also says that no cruel of unusual punishments are to be inflicted on the prisoners of war. All these international rules of war are being violated and disobeyed by the so-called 'coalition of the willing' cobbled together by Bush and now Obama. The present source of terroristic violence is flowing not from the aghanis or the peoples abiding in the world's Holyland, but from the outside aggressive invasions led by the British and U.S. Imperialist Troops throughout the region, and again there is three obvious war crime being committed by The foreign aggressive troops, 1) targeting and killing of civilians, 2) torturing and killing prisoners of war, 3) Collective Punishment, such as droning or bombing towns and cities as punishment against the legitimate resistence, which is all in the category of war crimes as designated by the Geneva Conventions of war. Don't lie to me false lawyer.

union jack


where do your loyalties lie?

15.08.2010 18:12

Can't you read? Where did i say that the Geneva Conventions does not define war crimes?
I didn't, so don't say i did. It doesn't say anything about starting war that was authorised by the UN and is therefore legal.

I'm not sure how you can compare our side to the German Nazis. They made of used the same words as us. The difference is they were fighting against us so were clearly in the wrong. What are you suggesting? That we were to say to them that their arguments were correct? Of course they weren't otherwise we would have been invaded.

The difference is that we are talking about our side, not the enemy. I can understand them not liking it but that is because they are the enemy and we are against them. Of course they are not going to agree with us by definition. What i don't understand is how you can agree with them. Which side are you on exactly? I assume it is the west since you are actually living here. If not, then what are you doing here? If you actually want our side to win this war then you seriously need to think about where you lay your support.

pauline (lawyer)


The first thing we do...

15.08.2010 18:50

"Which side are you on exactly? I assume it is the west since you are actually living here. If not, then what are you doing here?"

You assume that everyone who lives in a country does so by choice and because they support the ruling class.

Please go to some other site and talk your ill informed nonsense.

Lets kill all the lawyers


Guilty, mlud!

16.08.2010 00:42

"What i don't understand is how you can agree with them. Which side are you on exactly? I assume it is the west since you are actually living here. If not, then what are you doing here? If you actually want our side to win this war then you seriously need to think about where you lay your support."

Kind of cuts to the heart of the matter.

This is precisely the reasoning that Bush and Blair were counting on to tide them over until WMD were found or enough pictures could appear of Iraqi's welcoming the heroic invaders into Baghdad.

The invasion was planned as a war of aggression that might morph into something that would be acceptable enough to mask its original purpose.

But it went horribly wrong leaving the world with just the aggression and subsequent regime change.

The way in which this disastrous episode unravelled, should give an insight into why UK law forbids the Armed Forces of the UK to be used for regime change in the first place. The invasion of Iraq turned out the way it did...because it was illegal.

Tony Blair along with George W Bush are war criminals. They planned, sanctioned, executed and defended the crime and continue to remain committed to a defence of this crime. This is exactly what war criminals do.

The reality is of course that he is still free because the UN depend too much on the UK and US for financial aid and any trial involving these two miscreants incriminates the UN and those who rubber stamped the crime. A war criminal is clear in law, but in practise a war criminal is largely politically 'western centric'.

Has anybody actually considered that Mr Blair puts so much effort into cashing in, because he expects to have to finance a legal criminal defence at some point?

Mr Blair says he's innocent, but his behaviour infers an acceptance of guilt.

T


Loyalties-- liberation from armies that kill civilians, and torture POW's

16.08.2010 06:03

Loyalties are towards the liberation process that does not kill civilians, or torture Prisoners of War, or practice Collective Punishment. Loyalties to the countries that no longer practice aggressive war as the foreign policy of nations for the conquest of resources to the Imperialist Empire. The United Nations Charter, itself an anti-fascist document says that the United Nations comes into being to uphold collective agree as democracy and the method of settling disputes between nations. It futher says that it indtends to make aggressive war only a long distant memory for the comming generations. Abolish aggressive war between nations. Too bad the financial control of the security council has subverted these original purposes in the Charter which were brought to fruition by the anti-fascist fighters in the second world war.
The Imperialists have subverted the general assembly which is the mass democracy of each country globally, and the veto by the Imperialist controlled security council has taken away the worlds fullest meanings of democracy as collective agree of the majority. Thus war after imperialist war, after imperialist war is occurring and the Charter purpose is not being fully implemented as originally intended, which is to end aggressive wars as a nations foreign policy.

union jack


Support Tony Blair.

16.08.2010 21:46

Tony Blair isn't arrogant and his behaviour isn't appalling, he's just a good British businessman. Anybody in business knows that you have to do whatever it takes to get public interest going so people know that your product is on sale. He's just written a book and his publicity team are using his notoriety to get publicity for his book.

He's a good product himself and is a marketing man's dream come true. Wherever he goes he's got a guaranteed turnout. Now he's selling his book his team have got to be as offensive as possible to get the money coming in.

I know the Iraq war was controversial but that's just the way it goes, all those Iraqi people that died aren't really that important compared to the 179 British soldiers who died. From Blairs POV the Iraq war was hugely successful because hardly anyone important died. It was highly illegal but he still managed to pull it off, amazing if you think about it.

Its a brilliant testament to how successful and profitable things are for everyone when businessmen become leaders of political parties.

I think we should be more supportive of Tony Blair, he has proved that anything is possible and you can get away with anything. If it all goes wrong, you can make a mint.

Win win.

Andrew Morgan.


Innocent until proven guilty

17.08.2010 15:13

Like him or loathe him, Tony Blair has the same rights as everyone else. He is innocent until proven guilty. Hence 'alleged' War Criminal.

If brought before a Court of Law and found guilty, we can then call Blair a War Criminal, but until such time as the charges are brought and he is found guilty of said charges in a legitimate court, not the court of public opinion, then whether we like it or not Blair remains an 'alleged' War Criminal.

Keith


A result!

17.08.2010 15:18

'All Neptune's oceans can't wash the blood of Iraq from Tony Blair's hands, however much money he donates to charity.' -- Stop the War Coalition

Never had such a rapid result to an article.

Blair is to give all monies from the sale of his book to victims of his wars. Though only British victims, not unmentionable foreign victims.

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10991832
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10991801
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10991651

But no amount of blood money can wash the blood off his hands.

 http://bit.ly/9RxYik

Stop the War Coalition will be mounting a protest at the book signing at Waterstone's in Piccadilly, London, 1pm Wednesday 8 September 2010.

Keith


@person using Keiths name.

17.08.2010 18:53

"If brought before a Court of Law and found guilty, we can then call Blair a War Criminal, but until such time as the charges are brought and he is found guilty of said charges in a legitimate court, not the court of public opinion, then whether we like it or not Blair remains an 'alleged' War Criminal."

Hitler was never brought before a court. That must make him completely innocent!

After all the people that have died, all the injustice and murder, after all the death, we are expected to say nothing until some bloke in a wig bangs his gavel and gets a clerk to scribble on a bit of paper.

What utter nonsense.

Tony Blair is a war criminal because we have hundreds of thousands dead to prove it. What's confusing about this? What is it that's causing you such difficulty?


T


oh please, my heart is bleeding

17.08.2010 22:05

Hitler was the chief honcho of the enemy. Being the enemy - we felt we had the right to kill him.
And if you had actually forgotten, Saddam Hussein was the enemy who we were fighting against. Remember him? The nasty man who murdered his own people on a scale way beyond the deaths caused by our forces.

>>>> Tony Blair is a war criminal because we have hundreds of thousands dead to prove it. What's confusing about this? What is it that's causing you such difficulty?

The confusing bit is we don't actually live in la-la land where kangeroo caughts prevail over logic and reason.

Why don't you take him to court if you are that bothered about it?

mitchtastic


Oh yes we do

18.08.2010 10:49

"The confusing bit is we don't actually live in la-la land where kangeroo caughts prevail over logic and reason. "

Oh yes we do. The entire War of Terror was one giant kangaroo court gone berserk. The judge and clerks were murderous tyrants and the jury mad as bats getting tangled in your hair. Good god don't you remember all newspaper headlines and TV news reports about how Saddam Hussein was the villain from hell and was getting ready to attack us. All of that kangaroo court in action.

The UK is not a civilised place. It has very little good judgement. Most of the population are disturbed and its political leaders from time to time are deranged or unstable. Almost everything the British public does is deranged.

Look at the trolls on Indymedia. People posting the most vile filth because it amuses them. This is not stable behaviour. Tony Blair is just as unstable as the people who elected him. You support Tony Blair not because you agree with what he has done, but because you have realised what he will cost your country if he is arrested and convicted.

Something very true about the British people will be proved.

Why don't you take him to court if you are that bothered about it?"

I'm not into that kind of justice. There are no courts for the tyrannical and murderous Tony Blair. Justice for Tony Blair should be a lot more abrupt.


T


Woman's Hour

19.08.2010 22:29

The arrogance of the Blair book signing was criticised on this morning's Woman's Hour.

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tc6rv

Keith


Do not give Blair a platform

19.08.2010 22:31

Join the call for Waterstone's not to give Blair a platform

 http://stopwar.iparl.com/lobby/13

Keith
- Homepage: http://stopwar.iparl.com/lobby/13


Will giving away his book proceeds repair Tony Blair's image?

19.08.2010 22:45

Blair has to repair his image, and this gesture could be part of that plan, says Mark Steel. Some people have suggested the motivation is irrelevant because the money will be so useful, but to test that theory, imagine if the British Legion announced "You'll never guess what. Today we got another donation of £4m, from sales of the latest DVD by Osama Bin Laden. It really has been our lucky week."

 http://stopwar.org.uk/content/view/2040/1/

Keith
- Homepage: http://stopwar.org.uk/content/view/2040/1/