Polly Toynbee (Guardian Utd): Blair's black day

From the Guardian Unlimited (UK)
Dated Friday November 21

Blair's black day
Bombs, demos and serious mid-term drift - and all the direct result of the prime minister's own decisions
By Polly Toynbee

The prime minister has waited for months now with a deadly certainty that the terror attacks would come. "When, not if," he warned spine-chillingly about the threat to Britain. Once he had decided to take the country to war, terrorist retaliation was certain and if ever there was a prime time to expect it, then it was now, during George Bush's state visit. The wonder is only that Britain has escaped for so long. London was fortified beyond endurance this week, but there will always be soft underbellies exposed to Islamist extremist fury. There is no defence against terror . . . .
These bombs made yesterday one of the darkest days of Tony Blair's prime ministership. As if that horror were not enough, too many other disparate pigeons came fluttering home to roost at once. Whichever way he turned, things looked black. They were no mere accidents, for everything that happened came as a direct result of his own decisions, all of them taken against the better instincts of most of his party.
While the colossal anti-Bush demonstration swirled through the capital, and central London ground to a halt due to the visit of this unpopular president, inside beleaguered Westminster two bills ricocheted between the Lords and the Commons in a near-meaningless battle. The unimportant substance of these bills had long become irrelevant . . . .
Bombs in Istanbul are the only outcome from this presidential visit. George Bush brought no gifts to thank his ally for taking so much damage to support this politically alien president. Nothing has been gained on US illegal trade tariffs: a promise to obey the WTO might have given Blair something to show the Europeans the value of engaging with America. No sign was given of serious intent to intervene in the Israel/Palestine conflict. The president leaves unabated alarm that the US will cut and run from Iraq to suit the presidential election timetable and not the needs of Iraqis. This visit has been all downside for our prime minister.

Read more.

know? Her name sounds familiar. Maybe she's just a regular columnist with The Guardian.

I do think that is right.

at the Guardian. Here is an archive of her recent work.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Archive/0,5673,-25,00.html

Congratulations, Polly! Finaly you gave up on those lame columns
mildly criticising Blair only to conclude them
saying that Labour had no alternative but to stick with him
and get over it... :eyes:

on edit: Blair's black day was back in March when he launched his
country into a war of aggression and became a war criminal, and
don't you forget it, Polly!