Skip Nav | Home | Mobile | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Security | Support Us

World

August 7, 2006 - Cover story - Blood on his hands

FPF-fwd.: John Kampfner - New Statesman | 04.08.2006 12:44 | Lebanon War 2006 | Analysis | Globalisation | Repression | World

''Blair knew the attack on Lebanon was coming but he didn't try to stop it, because he didn't want to. He has made this country an accomplice, destroying what remained of our influence abroad while putting us all at greater risk of attack.''

FPF: ACCORDING TO ALL INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS* every form of resistance is fully legally justified against the US/Israeli genocidal junta. With the collaborating war criminals of the 'Coalition of the Killing' still massacring but losing in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and much more of our world.

In Mosul in Iraq this morning resistance against the occupiers grew like an Intifada, and had after dozens of victims to be curbed by a curfew. The growing resistance is not only legal, but a plight for every human being. And we human beings are 6.5 billion together...

BLOOD ON HIS HANDS

By John Kampfner - New Statesman - Monday August 7, 2006 - Cover story

At a Downing Street reception not long ago, a guest had the temerity to ask Tony Blair: "How do you sleep at night, knowing that you've been responsible for the deaths of 100,000 Iraqis?"

THE PRIME MINISTER IS SAID TO HAVE RETORTED: "I THINK YOU'LL FIND IT'S CLOSER TO 50,000."

No British leader since Winston Churchill has dealt in war with such alacrity as the present one. Back then, it was in the cause of saving the nation from Nazism. Now, it is in the cause of putting into practice the foreign policy of the simpleton. During his nine years in power, Blair - and in this government it is he, and he alone - has managed to ensure that the UK has become both reviled and stripped of influence across vast stretches of the world. In so doing, he has increased the danger of terrorism to Britain itself.

Israel's assault on Lebanon is, in many respects, as disastrous as the war in Iraq. But at least then the pre-war hubris and deceit were played out in parliament and at the UN. This latest act of folly took place suddenly, with only the barest of attempts to justify it to global public opinion. And it stems from the core Middle East problem: the decades-old conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians.

I am told that the Israelis informed George W Bush in advance of their plans to "destroy" Hezbollah by bombing villages in southern Lebanon. The Americans duly informed the British. So Blair knew. This exposes as a fraud the debate of the past week about calling for a ceasefire. Indeed, one of the reasons why negotiations failed in Rome was British obduracy. This has been a case not of turning a blind eye and failing to halt the onslaught, but of providing active support.

Blair, like Bush, had no intention of urging the Israelis to slow down their bombardment, believing somehow that this struggle was winnable. Israel has a right to self-defence, but it could have responded to the seizure of its soldiers, and to the rocket attacks, by the diplomatic route. That would have ensured greater sympathy. Now, growing numbers in Israel itself realise that military action will bring no long-term solution.

EVEN IF THE GUNS FALL SILENT FOR A WHILE, THE DAMAGE HAS BEEN DONE.

This is the score sheet so far: roughly 800 deaths; shocking images of the slaughter of children in Qana; no clear Israeli military advance. And the transformation of Hezbollah from an organisation on the periphery of Lebanese politics into an object of admiration across the Arab world. But it is even worse than that. Is the assumption that civilians are legitimate targets if they do not flee certain areas any different from the principles that underlay the US war in Vietnam? Blair and Bush have given their blessing to the forced displacement of a large population, in violation of the guiding principles of the UN Commission on Human Rights.

Lebanon will now provide a rich source of inspiration to radical Islamists in their distorted quest for martyrdom. Senior Whitehall sources involved in the fight against terrorism are gravely concerned about the consequences of the Prime Minister's failure to condemn Israel's actions. The intelligence services say it is too early to tell whether Lebanon has already contributed to radicalisation in the UK; they work from the assumption that it will, like Iraq and Afghan istan. This is not in any way to justify or suggest equivalence, but it is surely the duty of a leader to produce a risk assessment of his actions. If Blair is prepared to put Britain in greater danger, he has to persuade its citizens that he is doing so for good reason.

Blair, at his rhetorical best in front of friends in California, appears in no mood for self-doubt. "I have many opponents on the subject," he told Rupert Murdoch's elite gathering at Pebble Beach on 30 July. "But I have complete inner confidence in the analysis of the struggle we face." Either he is delusional, or he has no choice but to say what he says. One close aide recalls that when the Prime Minister was preparing a foreign-policy speech in his Sedgefield constituency in 2004, a year after the invasion of Iraq, he considered a mea culpa of sorts, but changed his mind, asking his team: "Do we want headlines of 'Blair: I was wrong' or 'Blair: I was right'?"

WHATEVER HE MAY THINK ALONE AT NIGHT, THE PRIME MINISTER IS LOCKED IN A SPIRAL OF SELF-JUSTIFICATION FOR HIS ACTIONS IN IRAQ, HIS BROADER MIDDLE EAST POLICY AND HIS UNSTINTING SUPPORT OF BUSH.

His speech in Los Angeles on 1 August was spun as a rethink. If so, it is too little, too late. Historians reflecting on the Blair-Bush "war on terror" that followed the attacks of 11 September 2001 would be right to see it as a joint venture. Ultimately, his US policy is his foreign policy. It has, by his own admission, underpinned his every action.

But one part of the jigsaw that Blair claimed to be vital was never put in place. The "road map", drawn up in 2002 by the quartet of the US, EU, United Nations and Russia, has remained the best hope for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, yet it was never implemented, because Bush didn't really believe in it. If Blair felt so passionately about it, and if his public silence did win him the influence inside the White House that he claims to have, he could and should have stood up and been counted on that issue, if on no other. Instead, he meekly accepted American inaction.

THE HORRIFIC EVENTS OF THE PAST THREE WEEKS CAN BE TRACED IN LARGE PART TO THAT FAILURE. BLAIR'S EXHORTATIONS TO HIS AMERICAN AUDIENCE AT LEAST TO CONSIDER THE PALESTINIAN ISSUE WERE LAMENTABLE.

Before taking office in 1997, Blair travelled light on foreign policy. Saddam Hussein's chemical gassing of 5,000 Kurds at Halabja in 1988 passed him by: unlike dozens of other MPs, he didn't bother to sign a motion condemning it. Once in power, and frustrated at the pace of reform in domestic politics, Blair seized upon the theory of "humanitarian interventionism" that grew out of anger over inaction, first in Bosnia and then Rwanda. His decision to back military action in Kosovo reflected that thinking, and led to tension with Bill Clinton over America's reluctance to commit ground forces.

BANALITIES OF "GOOD AND EVIL"

Having spent a month in Rwanda in 1994, seeing attacks take place, I need no persuading that inaction can be as hideous as action. Sometimes it is right to fight, but - as Blair should know from his Chicago speech of 1999, in which he set out the principles of humanitarian intervention - the outcome is what matters. When I began work on my book Blair's Wars, I tried to give the Prime Minister the benefit of the doubt, until I realised, on speaking to many people who worked closely with him, how simplistic and impressionable he was.

Now, as Blair hides behind banalities about "good and evil" and the familiar, crude definitions of "terrorism", his ministers look on helplessly. They talk openly to journalists - in the "you can print it, but just don't name me" deal that is the coward's life at Westminster - of Blair's "Bush problem". Shortly before MPs left for their summer break, one senior member of the cabinet accosted me in the corridors of the Commons, and asked: "How much further up their arses do you think we can go?" - I suggested that this was more up to him than to me.

At least over Iraq someone resigned. This time, ministers do nothing. Their private complaints have no moral or political value, because they will not stop Blair. Under cabinet rules of collective responsibility, they are endorsing the Israeli assault.

Blair's survival in power is no longer a game of cat-and-mouse with Gordon Brown; it is no longer a question of Labour's ability to stave off the Conservatives.

IT IS FAR MORE SERIOUS THAN THAT.

A RECORD OF CONFLICT: THE DEATH TOLL FROM WARS BRITAIN HAS FOUGHT UNDER THREE PRIME MINISTERS

TONY BLAIR

71,617 deaths
9 years in power
Iraq war (2003-)
115 UK troop deaths 30,000 Iraqi troop deaths (estimate by Gen Tommy Franks in Oct 2003) 39,460-43,927 civilian deaths (Iraq Body Count)

Afghanistan (2001-)
16 UK troop deaths (as of 1 August 2006)
1,300-8,000 direct civilian deaths (Guardian estimate). Unknown Taliban deaths

Sierra Leone (2000-2002)
1 UK troop death 25 foreign troop deaths (at least)

Nato bombing of Serbia (1999)
No UK troop deaths. Unknown Serbian troop deaths 500-1,500 civilian deaths (according to Human Rights Watch/Nato estimates)

Operation Desert Fox (1998)
200-300 Iraqi deaths (based on UN estimate)

John Major
22,316 deaths
7 years in power

Gulf war (1991)
16 UK troop deaths 20,000-22,000 Iraqi troop deaths 2,300 civilian deaths (according to the Iraqi government)
Margaret Thatcher
1,013 deaths
11 years in power

US bombing of Libya from UK bases (1986) - [HR: 'false flag' operation with UK help -  http://tinyurl.com/jn22f]
100 Libyan deaths

Falklands war (1982)
255 UK troop deaths 655 Argentinian troop deaths 3 Civilian deaths

The figures do not take into account the estimated 350,000 Iraqis who died as a result of sanctions between 1991 and 2003 - under John Major and Tony Blair.

Blair's body count is probably underestimated here because there are no figures for Taliban and Serbian military deaths.

ESTIMATES FOR IRAQI DEATHS RANGE BETWEEN 30,000 AND 300,000.

THE OFFICIAL BUSH ESTIMATE IS 30,000 DEATHS.

Iraq Body Count estimates between 39,460 and 43,927, although it admits this is far below the real total, as the database counts only reported deaths.

A LANCET REPORT IN 2004 ESTIMATED 100,000 DEATHS, ALTHOUGH ONE OF THE AUTHORS SAYS THE TOTAL COULD BE 300,000.

Research: Daniel Trilling

This article first appeared in the New Statesman - Url.:  http://www.newstatesman.com/200608070017

RELATED:

* The unreliable Independent - UK - Blair admits to cabinet splits over his support for Bush on Israel - Url.:  http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article1212769.ece

* FPF - INDYMEDIA BEIRUT - EU: England, Germany and Holland stop cease fire resolution Lebanon - Url.:  http://beirut.indymedia.org/ar/2006/08/4966.shtml


* THE US/ISRAELI COLLABORATORS IN 'THE NETHERLANDS' - AS ALL OTHER MEMBERS OF THE 'COALITION OF THE KILLING' - SUPPORT THE US/ISRAELI GENOCIDES AND INHUMANITIES. THEY KEEP SILENT, EVEN WHEN THEY ARE GUILTY OF WAR CRIMES. THEY SILENCE EVERYBODY, WHILE DOING NOTHING TO STOP THE SLAUGHTER. THEY HAVE BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS: AFTER THE NUREMBERG WAR CRIMES TRIBUNALS, NAZI CRIMINALS LIKE THESE WERE HANGED BY THE AMERICANS.

* DEFINITION OF SEMITES: from The Collin’s English Dictionary -1984 - "Semitic: a member of the group of Caucasoid people who speak a Semitic language, including the Jews and Arabs as well as the Ancient Babylonians (Iraqis), the Assyrians (Syria), and the Phoenicians (the Lebanese of today). Semitic: a branch or sub-family of languages that includes Arabic, Aramaic, Hebrew.” - THE PALESTINIANS ARE PURE SEMITES!

* PREPARING THE GENOCIDE FOR 'ERETZ ISRAEL' - 'A Clean Break: Strategy for Securing the Realm' - The new Israeli ''Pentagon Papers'' - Url.:  http://tinyurl.com/zksqh

* US/ISRAELI GENOCIDE NEWS: ''MORE TIME TO BOMB'' - ESSENTIAL 6 MINUTE VIDEO - We defy anyone to watch this 6 minute video, entitled MORE TIME TO BOMB, and not be so enraged at the scale of Israel's atrocities in Lebanon and Gaza, that they commit themselves to persuade everyone they know to join the Emergency National Demonstration on SATURDAY 5 AUGUST. - 6 minute video - Url.:  http://tinyurl.com/k8mm5

* The Dutch author this far has worked abroad more than 4 decades for international media as an independent foreign correspondent, of which 10 years - also during Gulf War I - in the Arab World and the Middle East. Having practical experience of coups and the obscenity of war: seeing worldwide that every bullet and every bomb breeds more terrorism!

* RELATED: BACKGROUND LINKS TO THOSE RESPONSIBLE - If after checking a factual error is found, pls. send an email. - Url.:  http://tinyurl.com/fhln9

* FPF-COPYRIGHT NOTICE - In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107 - any copyrighted work in this message is distributed by the Foreign Press Foundation under fair use, without profit or payment, to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the information. Url.:  http://liimirror.warwick.ac.uk/uscode/17/107.html

FOREIGN PRESS FOUNDATION
Editor: Henk Ruyssenaars
 http://tinyurl.com/66dmo
The Netherlands
 fpf@chello.nl

-0-




































FPF-fwd.: John Kampfner - New Statesman
- e-mail: fpf@chello.nl
- Homepage: http://www.newstatesman.com/200608070017

Comments

Display the following comment

  1. Blair is a Security Threat — mike d

Publish

Publish your news

Do you need help with publishing?

/regional publish include --> /regional search include -->

World Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Server Appeal Radio Page Video Page Indymedia Cinema Offline Newsheet

secure Encrypted Page

You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.

If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech