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Sep-07-2010 20:37printcomments

Blowback: What Did Blair Expect?

Being lied to and misled into needless wars and other questionable adventures is not something we should have to accept. Some people do not, as Tony Blair is witnessing first hand.

Tony Blair
Tony Blair photo courtesy: World News

(GOLD RIVER, B.C.) - Tony Blair has published his memoirs, A Journey. He is getting a lot of publicity for it, though probably not the kind that he was looking for. In Dublin at a book signing he was pelted with eggs and shoes by protesters who see him as a war criminal.

His next event in London was cancelled for fear of more of the same. What did he expect? He involved the UK in an act of aggression against Iraq based on lies and is an accessory to the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of people, including his own soldiers.

Never mind the unnecessary invasion of Afghanistan which he is also a party to.

After the Second World War Germans and Japanese were sent to the gallows for their acts of aggression, why should the architects of the Iraq/Afghanistan/Global War On Terror be treated any differently?

Down in the United States General Colin Powell, who presented the American lies to the United Nations and helped sell the Iraq War, has apologized, sort of, for what he did, saying that he regrets taking the false information to the UN, though he did not know that it was false at the time. That may be true, but one has to wonder.


Either the Bush administration was not composed of morons, and they knew what they were doing, or the US military and intelligence communities are seriously incompetent. The former is more likely.

The history of the past fifty or more years shows us that people in the western democracies have been poorly served by their leaders, at least in the field of foreign affairs. The Carter regime led the charge against the Soviets in Afghanistan and set the stage for the mess we are now stuck in.

Sucking up to feudal war lords and religious fanatics to get a jab in at the communists turns out not to be such a bright idea, at least if global stability and human rights are the goal.

Human rights, it seems, is only the goal when they coincide with economic and political objectives. After the war crimes trials and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights following the Second World War, it was back to business as usual for the major powers, protecting their economic interests as best they could around the world, even if it meant subverting democracy and installing brutal dictators.

Democracy does not seem too important if it includes a country taking control of its resources and nationalizing foreign holdings.

It is no wonder that the western powers are considered hypocritical by some, preaching one set of values while supporting their antitheses abroad.

It is also no wonder that these actions have created considerable resentment and are directly involved in creating the global mess that we now confront, a mess best described as blowback.


Following the same paths and the same type of leaders as we have in the past will make the situation worse.

Many people realize this, hence the demonstrations against those like Tony Blair. Unfortunately blowback can beget counter blowback and lock us in a destructive cycle hard to escape from. Witness the idiocy surrounding the case of the mosque at so called "Ground Zero" in New York.

Rather than absorbing this proposal and turning it to something positive and non- controversial, egged on by political interests hoping to find an advantage, people are setting their hair on fire and running around half cocked making the matter far worse than it has any reason to be.

Another case in point is the Dove Outreach Center in Florida where the pastor is planning to hold a public burning of the Koran.

In response Muslims around the world are setting their hair on fire, ramping up the resentment which no doubt may lead to more violent acts. What is the point? Either way. Why burn books to make a point or take a shot at other people? Why care if someone burns a book at all? Books are only books, Koran, Bible, the latest Harry Potter, an old Sears catalogue, nothing worth getting in a fight over.

What is worth getting in a fight over is honest government. Being lied to and misled into needless wars and other questionable adventures is not something we should have to accept. Some people do not, as Tony Blair is witnessing first hand.


Jerry West grew up on a farm in Fresno County, California, and served with the US Marine Corps from 1965 to 1970 including 19 months in Vietnam with the Third Marine Division, and three years at MCAS Iwakuni where he became an anti-war organizer in 1970. He earned an Honors Degree in History at the University of California, Berkeley, and did two years of graduate study there. While in university he worked seasonally in fire and law enforcement with the US Forest Service.

After university he worked for a number of years in the international tour industry in operations and management before moving to a remote village on the west coast of Vancouver Island where he is currently the editor and publisher of The Record newspaper serving the Nootka Sound region. He is a Past President of the Northern California Land Trust, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

You can email Jerry West, Salem-News.com Writer, at: newsroom@salem-news.com




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Vic September 8, 2010 7:42 am (Pacific time)

It is a shame that the activists did not have a sniper rifle. Blair, Bush, Powell, Rice et al should be scared to death every waking moment of their lives. They should be afraid to go out in public, instead of parading around doing book tours.


Douglas Benson September 8, 2010 7:16 am (Pacific time)

Let em burn ! Dont like it ?Tough! Endanger the troops ? Same thing. Goverment trying to convince citizens not to exersise thier freedoms is unconstitutional and sends the wrong message . Our goverment officials should be supporting our rights by saying that while they may not want them to do so they have that right [and say it to the entire world]. I would like to burn them all . Starting with the bible,the koran and all the rest. Imagine no religion its easy if you try ,nothing to fight and kill for . Peace


M. Dennis Paul, Ph.D. September 7, 2010 10:22 pm (Pacific time)

It is a shame that the activists are such lousy shots. Practice!!

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