'The risk is that terrorism and states developing weapons of mass destruction come together. And when people say, 'That risk is fanciful,' I say we know the Taliban supported al-Qaeda. We know Iraq under Saddam gave haven to and supported terrorists. We know there are states in the Middle East now actively funding and helping people, who regard it as God's will in the act of suicide to take as many innocent lives with them on their way to God's judgment.
Some of these states are desperately trying to acquire nuclear weapons. We know that companies and individuals with expertise sell it to the highest bidder, and we know that at least one state, North Korea, lets its people starve while spending billions of dollars on developing nuclear weapons and exporting the technology abroad.
This isn't fantasy, it is 21st-century reality, and it confronts us now. Can we be sure that terrorism and weapons of mass destruction will join together? Let us say one thing: If we are wrong, we will have destroyed a threat that at its least is responsible for inhuman carnage and suffering. That is something I am confident history will forgive.
But if our critics are wrong, if we are right, as I believe with every fiber of instinct and conviction I have that we are, and we do not act, then we will have hesitated in the face of this menace when we should have given leadership. That is something history will not forgive.'
… Tony Blair: Address to Congress Accepting Congressional Gold Medal, delivered 18 July 2003
14 comments:
Back in the 50's and 60's when I grew up, "right makes might" was a silly slogan with a lot of meaning. Every since the flower children got control that's no longer the case.
"Ambivalent" and "free" don't belong in the same sentence.
Agreed!
John Prescott announced just today that he will would step down as Deputy Prime Minister when Tony Blair quits. That came as a surprise.
But if our critics are wrong, if we are right, as I believe with every fiber of instinct and conviction I have that we are, and we do not act, then we will have hesitated in the face of this menace when we should have given leadership. That is something history will not forgive.
The "history" he is talking about won't be around to "forgive." We'll be living in a cowardly world where everyone speaks Arabic (or else).
Iraq policy has led to Blair's downfall, says top British UN official
Tony Blair's policy in Iraq is what, ultimately, fatally undermined his position as Prime Minister and forced him to step down, said the deputy secretary general of the United Nations, Mark Malloch Brown, yesterday.
He said the Prime Minister's failure to call for an immediate ceasefire during the Israeli bombing of Lebanon was the final nail in his coffin, triggering the final rebellion by many previous loyalists, and he suggested that Mr Blair had learnt no lessons from his earlier unquestioning support of the United States.
------- Paul Valley, 29 September 2006 , The Independent, U.K.
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Valley is right and the world is going to suffer for it. Our only major ally in the war on terrorism and he's soon going to bite the dust.
Does anyone know Margaret Thatcher's stand on the Iraq War? She was always of the same mind as Reagan, and although there's no doubt Reagan would have been strong against Islamic fascists, I'm not so sure he would have gotten us into Iraq as the first step in containing them.
Tony Blair with this bit of straight talk has emerged as a true world leader. He is the first world leader to recognise the true nature of the enemy in the War on Terror and warn the world about it just like his predecessor Churchill tried his best to warn the world about the true evil nature of Hitler’s Nazi regime all those years ago. Even then the world was in denial about the Nazis just like it is today about the Global Jihadist threat.
I copied this a while ago from a blog called “The Blog of a Liberal Mugged by Reality” (great name, huh?) and I think it’s very true.
deputy secretary general of the United Nations, Mark Malloch Brown,
is on the take from the muslims.
Yeah but who murdered Jonbenet Ramsey?
Joanie, you hit it right.
Here’s part of a report from the Guardian describing a speech Blair gave just a few days ago:
The conference delegates get to their feet at 2.35pm to give Tony Blair a standing ovation before he starts speaking.
Blair (probably in answer to the claims that the war in Iraq is causing an increase in Islamic terrorism):
Terrorism is "a struggle that will last a generation or more."
"We will not win until we shake ourselves free of the wretched capitulation to the propaganda of the enemy, that somehow we are the ones responsible."
Foreign policy is not the cause, Mr Blair says. "It's an attack on our way of life."
It killed 3,000 in New York before the wars on Afghanistan and Iraq.
Around the world, the victims are mainly Muslim.
"This is not a war on Islam," he says.
We can't hand over Iraq to al-Qaida and sectarian death squads, Afghanistan to al-Qaida and the Taliban.
"It's not a clash of civilisations, it's about civilisation and the ideas that shape it."
Rush quoted Blair this afternoon from a speech he gave about the dangers of "capituating" to terrorism. It was a great quote and it led to quite a Rush rant about the despicable dems.
I had no use for Blair when he was a Clinton clone, but now that he is a staunch supporter of America's anti-terrorist policies, he's come up a lot in my eyes.
Isn't it funny that when he was Clinton's pal he was at the height of his popularity but now that he's standing for what's right he's being forced out of office.
I may disagree with Tony Blair on many of his beliefs
Blair praised Schwarzenegger for his "brilliant work" when Arnold signed a new law cutting greenhouse gas emissions in CA. There's a good example of what you (and I) would disagree with!
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