Blair's epitaph

[wendigo100]

All the President is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway.


Harry S Truman, Letter to his sister, Nov. 14, 1947
33rd president of US (1884 - 1972)

That would be Harry BOOM-BOOM Truman.

[zathras]

Something BobTheCrate said in another thread got me thinking...

Iraq might be the biggest of his cock-ups and cave-ins, but in nine years has he achieved anything at all? I wonder what his epitaph will be?

Tony Blair - Big ideas, bad ideas, no idea.

Hows about 'Thank God that's over'

[TGAOTU]

How about...

"24 December 2005
Died tragically as a 747 crashed into Downing Street wiping out most of his Cabinet"

[Jabberwocky]

[QUOTE=EternalOptimist]I used to have high expectations of project managers, they had to be sh1t hot to gain any sort of approval from me at all. Now I have toned down my view and anyone that is not a complete disaster is tolerable.
QUOTE]

Yes my son you are made from the very same p*g sh1t as your PMs. Only a select few rise higher, propelled by our intellect and love of God. I have touched the sky my children and danced in the stars with angels of the Lord.

[Fungus]

Or, how about...

24 December 2005
Suffocated when his head got stuck up his arse. The slow lingering death took 8 years.

Fungus

[Fungus]

I actually think he has achieved a few things.

1) Gift aid, whereby a charity can claim back tax on donations.
2) Higher penalties for wildlife crimes, with the first jail sentences for stealing the eggs of endangered birds.
3) The national minimum wage. It does not seem to have damaged the economy.
4) Ceding control of interest rates to the Bank of England. It was a Tory idea, researched by the Tories, but implemented by New Lier.
5) Stopping massacres and genocide in Kosovo. Though the Yanks did the hard work, it was Blair that pushed them to go in. What, no oil?

I'm not adding anything about the cancelling of debt etc in Africa as I'm not convinced that they addressed any of the real issues e.g. trade barriers.

I'm struggling to think of any other achievements. Pretty piss poor really.

Fungus

[DodgyAgent]

I actually think he has achieved a few things.

1) Gift aid, whereby a charity can claim back tax on donations.
2) Higher penalties for wildlife crimes, with the first jail sentences for stealing the eggs of endangered birds.
3) The national minimum wage. It does not seem to have damaged the economy.
4) Ceding control of interest rates to the Bank of England. It was a Tory idea, researched by the Tories, but implemented by New Lier.
5) Stopping massacres and genocide in Kosovo. Though the Yanks did the hard work, it was Blair that pushed them to go in. What, no oil?

I'm not adding anything about the cancelling of debt etc in Africa as I'm not convinced that they addressed any of the real issues e.g. trade barriers.

I'm struggling to think of any other achievements. Pretty piss poor really.

Fungus

Some good points there fungus. I notice how quiet the anti wat brigade become when the US/UKs involvement in saving the lives of many muslims in the Balkans is mentioned. I cannot see myself now the bombing of Serbs is any different to the killing of Iraqis. Nor for that matter can I see how the bombing of serbs (to save "innocent" muslims) is any different to carpet bombing Dresden in WW2.

[Fungus]

Some good points there fungus. I notice how quiet the anti wat brigade become when the US/UKs involvement in saving the lives of many muslims in the Balkans is mentioned. I cannot see myself now the bombing of Serbs is any different to the killing of Iraqis. Nor for that matter can I see how the bombing of serbs (to save "innocent" muslims) is any different to carpet bombing Dresden in WW2.

The attack on the Serbs was largely targeted at the government e.g. launching a cruise missile at a government building. They were the ones responsible for genocide. It was a fairly clear cut issue with few fatalities from US attacks.

But the Iraqi thing has been far more contentious. The intelligence has turned out to have been wrong. Iraq was not involved with Al-Qaida. Iraq was not a threat to us. In fact it was a basket case and could barely feed its population. Huge numbers of Iraqis have died as a result of the invasion. And the post-invasion reconstruction was not thought through. And it is acting as a focal point for Islamic fruit-cakes. I fear that Iraq will not become the democratic beacon hoped for by the US.

Dresden was and remains contentious. I guess Bomber Harris thought he knew what he was doing. But don't forget that at that time precision bombing did not exist. So the options were do not bomb industrial areas, or bomb industrial areas, and take out huge numbers of civilians. (Maybe you know a good link for this?) At that time it was commonplace to completely miss a target, or even bomb the wrong city.

Fungus.

[DodgyAgent]

The attack on the Serbs was largely targeted at the government e.g. launching a cruise missile at a government building. They were the ones responsible for genocide. It was a fairly clear cut issue with few fatalities from US attacks.

But the Iraqi thing has been far more contentious. The intelligence has turned out to have been wrong. Iraq was not involved with Al-Qaida. Iraq was not a threat to us. In fact it was a basket case and could barely feed its population. Huge numbers of Iraqis have died as a result of the invasion. And the post-invasion reconstruction was not thought through. And it is acting as a focal point for Islamic fruit-cakes. I fear that Iraq will not become the democratic beacon hoped for by the US.

Dresden was and remains contentious. I guess Bomber Harris thought he knew what he was doing. But don't forget that at that time precision bombing did not exist. So the options were do not bomb industrial areas, or bomb industrial areas, and take out huge numbers of civilians. (Maybe you know a good link for this?) At that time it was commonplace to completely miss a target, or even bomb the wrong city.

Fungus.

So it is all about numbers then Fungus? If Iraq was an unjustified war then so was the Balkans war (too far away from Britain and the US etc etc) and the second world war had no justification because Hitler had wanted peace with the UK anyway.

[BoredBloke]

"1) Gift aid, whereby a charity can claim back tax on donations.
2) Higher penalties for wildlife crimes, with the first jail sentences for stealing the eggs of endangered birds.
3) The national minimum wage. It does not seem to have damaged the economy.
4) Ceding control of interest rates to the Bank of England. It was a Tory idea, researched by the Tories, but implemented by New Lier.
5) Stopping massacres and genocide in Kosovo. Though the Yanks did the hard work, it was Blair that pushed them to go in. What, no oil? "

Not much in the whole scheme of things though. They have been in power since 1997, had a massive majority for most of that time and this is all they have achieved.