Blair Bows Out
The end of the Dream Team. For those who've been side-tracked by the tough fight in Iraq to criticize Bush and Blair, you are missing out on an Historic Era of Anglo-Saxon cooperation. It was every bit as relevant as the Churchill-Roosevelt, Thatcher-Reagan team during past crises in our two nations' history.
Pundits on both sides of the Atlantic often bemoan how Britain is the "51st State" deridingly calling Blair "Bush's poodle", when I think it is the mother country which still leads the way on foreign policy. Taking advantage of America's wealth and growing military strength, it was Churchill who cajoled and connived Roosevelt into defeating Germany first, when it was Japan who attacked us. During the Cold War, America simply displaced the UK as world's policemen, taking up where the Empire left off in protecting free trade and world peace.
Also, it was Thatcher who was in power before Reagan, and made it possible through her influence for the NATO Alliance to effectively stand-off the Russians, by allowing Pershing and Cruise Missiles in their countries. Thatcher later bolstered Bush Sr.'s courage in standing up to Saddam Hussein, by warning him, "not to go wobbly". Finally, it was British intelligence information that Iraq was seeking nuclear fuel in Nigeria, (which still remains true even if the sale never came off) which the President used as a basis for war in 2003. Some 40,000 British troops, its largest deployment since World War 2, were already in the region conducting wargames before the US forces were fully prepared.
I have a feeling, if you've read Blair's parting shot against the Media, which he called a Feral Beast, he will not go quietly into obscurity. As in the Star Wars movies, if you strike him down he will be more powerful than ever. Look for the great British Prime Minister to continue to write and speak out for the need to stand against Radicals and all such threats to freedom and the Atlantic Alliance.
I've written several articles on Bush and Blair over the years, including:
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