Blair refuses to travel to US

[cal04]

From correspondents in London
BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair is refusing to fly to the United States to receive a medal bestowed on him by the nation for his support over last year's Iraq war, a London newspaper reported today.

US President George W. Bush has put huge pressure on his closest ally to pick up the Congressional Medal of Honour in person, the Sunday Mirror said, quoting a senior British government source. Mr Blair is immensely popular with large sections of the American public for his staunch support of the Iraq war and the White House believes a visit by the prime minister now would provide a much-needed boost to Mr Bush's re-election campaign, the weekly said.

"There has been a lot of telephone traffic between the White House and Downing Street over the medal in recent week," the Sunday Mirror quoted a senior government source as saying. "George Bush wants the prime minister to come to Washington and pick up the medal, which is the highest honour America can bestow on a foreigner. "But he has refused for more than a year now and for good reason. He cannot possibly accept an award for the Iraq war when British and American troops continue to risk their lives there."

Mr Blair is concerned also that a trip to the US now would effectively be giving a boost to Bush ahead of November's presidential elections.
"The Democrats are watching the situation very carefully and there would be uproar if Tony travelled to Washington to meet (Republican) Bush so close to the presidential elections," the government source said. "But Bush isn't letting up. The White House has already let it be known that they feel slighted because of this and believe they can use this to put pressure on Blair to get him out there."


http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10534577%255E1702,00.html

[fudge stripe cookays]

1. "Fancy a snort of Yank bum?

It's bloody good!"

Could it be Tony's gained a spine at long last?

[VolcanoJen]

9. l m f a o!!!

Thanks for making me choke on my morning coffee, fudge stripe cookays!!

[Fenris]

14. here

http://www.cafepress.com/cp/store.aspx?s=thewhitehouse.73925

[fudge stripe cookays]

36. You're welcome!

We aims to please!

And Thanks Fenris, for the link! I still want that shirt. But I have the Rosie the Riveter one, and wear it constantly!

[kevinhnc]

2. Blair needs to learn to not upset the Fuhrer

nt

[iconoclastic cat]

3. Is there anyone that Shrubby can't alienate?

I mean, besides Satan.

[0007]

46. YES!!

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2004/08/20/howard_comp,0.jpg

JOHN HOWARD

[iconoclastic cat]

50. LOL

I want his wardrobe, though!

[snippy]

4. I think Blair will cave and come when his master calls him.

[Cha]

40. Kerry's going to win and this won't bode well for

blair if he's seen trying to boost chimpyness.

[Mokito]

53. That would be called "political suicide" and Blair knows it.

[dbt]

5. Bullshit. On two points:

1. "He cannot possibly accept an award for the Iraq war when British and American troops continue to risk their lives there." Blair helped put those very troops into Iraq based on bu$h's LIES. If he could do THAT, he could certainly get his Poodle ass onto a plane for a little Hero (Sandwich) Worship here in the Colonies.

2. "Mr Blair is concerned also that a trip to the US now would effectively be giving a boost to Bush ahead of November's presidential elections." And WHY would Poodle Boy be afraid of HELPING his Good Friend--the one who talked him into sending troops into Iraq based on LIES?

bu$h, the "deeply stupid little oil-spiv," (as one British DUer so APTLY described him) needs all the help he can get in trying to win his very first Presidential Election. What kind of friend would refuse to come over here and help a buddy out? Maybe the kind who's so worried about his OWN ass that he can't risk being seen with Warboy?

Wouldn't the English have Blair's bollocks on toast if he accepted a medal for helping a War Criminal make Dick Cheney rich(er)? Isn't that the REAL REASON, Mr. Blair?

I call Bullshit.

:freak:
dbt

[DoYouEverWonder]

6. Isn't Tony up for reelection soon

I remember something about him calling for an early election a few months back? I think they moved it up to be before the US election?

[IronLionZion]

8. I thought he was leaving politics soon?

since he's already a member of Poppy's Carlyle group

[LibLabUK]

25. That's been proven has it?

"since he's already a member of Poppy's Carlyle group"

Reference??

[IronLionZion]

27. DU article

http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/03/05/20_whom.html

Blair has a spot waiting for him once he leaves his position as prime minister. You can take that to the bank.

That's why he went against his country and his party to support shrub's war

[LibLabUK]

29. Hmm

"You can take that to the bank."

Hardly..

"It has been rumored that the current UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has a position in waiting with The Carlyle Group."

No, primary reference... only a reported "rumour".

Hardly even worh mentioning.

[IronLionZion]

30. just because there's no proof

doesn't mean its not true. It's quite obvious that he does have a spot.

[LibLabUK]

31. FFS

"Just because there's not proof doesn't mean it's not true."

Please!

That's just nonsense.



"It's quite obvious that he does have a spot."

Whatever.

[IronLionZion]

35. whatever, not to knock your prime minister, but

I hold him more responsible for this debacle than my own idiotic president. Tony knows better.

[LibLabUK]

37. That maybe...

but your accusation of a spot in the Carlyle group is baseless, almost libellous.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. There was talk of an early election from a few pundits

but it never looked likely. He doesn't have to call an election before June 2006; the consensus used to be that he'd call it for late spring 2005 (there will be local elections then, and only having to go to the polling stations once may be appreciated by an electorate). But he's now said he'll call a referendum on the new EU constitution too, which complicates things. I don't know when the election is now likely to be.

[RogueTrooper]

12. True - he will get a slap off the British electorate if he went

however, contrary to popular belief, Blair and Bush do not like each other very much. Blair's relationship with Bush is based very much on the threats the Bush Administration has made. Read Greg Palast if you want to know the inside skinny.

[LibLabUK]

24. Hmm

"Mr Blair is concerned also that a trip to the US now would effectively be giving a boost to Bush ahead of November's presidential elections." And WHY would Poodle Boy be afraid of HELPING his Good Friend"

Maybe because he doesn't actually want to alienate Kerry. Should Kerry win after Blair giving Bush such a photo-op it would strain relations between the Kerry Whitehouse and Downing Street. This exact thing happened to John Major when he vocally backed Bush Snr in the race against Clinton.

[Cha]

41. Of course, it's Bullshit! Do they ever deal in any other..

commodity?

[cal04]

7. I found this in the story printed in the Mirror

Labour also suffered heavily at the ballot box over the conflict taking massive hits in the local and European elections.
One attempt to turn the crisis round was inviting the new Iraqi premier Iyad Allawi to be the keynote speaker at this year's Labour conference. But that appeared to fall through this week amid massive protests.

Mark Seddon, a member of the party's ruling National Executive Committee, said there would be a walk-out if Mr Allawi was invited to speak. He added: "A lot of us said at our last meeting we wanted John Kerry to win the Presidential election. We should be inviting the Democrats to our conference, not Allawi."

Mr Blair has deliberately kept out of the Presidential race to the fury of Labour backbenchers. They are desperate to get a Democrat back in the White House. Democrats, Labour's political bedfellows across the Atlantic, are also bewildered at Mr Blair's attitude.

Bush and Kerry are currently neck-and-neck in the US Presidential race. Mr Blair has been dodging the Congressional Medal since it was awarded a year ago.

[flordehinojos]

11. From the article "Blair Refuses to Travel to US"

the following quote:
"there would be uproar if Tony travelled to Washington to meet (Republican) Bush so close to the presidential elections," the government source said. "But Bush isn't letting up."

ALMOST SOUNDS LIKE

DADDY I WANT MY BOTTLE AND I WANT IT NOW!!!!!!!

[Crunchy Frog]

13. Blair doesn't want to look like this

in front of the British people.

[loudsue]

15. When the bush mafia finishes w/ Tony, Tony will do as he's told....

They have their "ways" of convincing people. They'll threaten Tony with everything they have in their arsenal...and he'll cave.

They all cave...eventually. I've watched it happen for too many years.

:kick::kick::kick:

[leesa]

16. Far as I could tell. The only place Blair was immensely popular here

was in the Congress among his cronies.

[acmavm]

20. I agree. It just boggles the mind that they would hand out the medal

to a co-conspirator who helped start a war based on lies and manipulation of intelligence. Goes to show you the value of receiving that medal nowdays.

[NMDemDist2]

17. good for Tony, but why would he get the Congressional Medal??

:shrug:

[muriel_volestrangler]

18. The official reason seems to be for listening to voices inside his head

instead of his own electorate:

A recent article in the Financial Times summarized the prime minister's approach to important foreign policy issues as follows:

"Deep inside he appears to believe that sometimes a leader needs to look at a situation not with reference to political exigencies, or even by the standards of the day, but as it will be judged on a higher plane at a later date."

http://www.congressionalgoldmedal.com/TonyBlair.htm

[Bo]

19. ....and the POODLE finally sees the writing on the wall

[Tight_rope]

21. Now Now...Blair, you come get your medal..."YOU HAVE EARNED IT"!

I wonder why is Blair so ashamed to come get his metal. After all the War in Iraq was a "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED"!

[Barkley]

58. If Blair gets a Medal for Iraq, then what about Australia's PM?

and Italy's PM too?

Hey, why not give one to Sharon and Chalabi too?

[gatlingforme]

22. I think Blair is right in not coming here to receive the medal. How

can you receive a medal in the middle of a completely blundered Iraq invasion that is getting less support every day. Also, the men and women are still losing their lives in Iraq. This is a tragedy that Bush uses for war propheteering for his cronies and him, (Haliburton ect.....)

[cal04]

26. And thankfully even soldiers families are starting

to speak and write

Muriel Gray on why Blair should resign over Iraq

The recent publicity surrounding a moving letter written to Blair by 14-year-old Maxine Gentle, sister of soldier Gordon Gentle killed in Iraq in June, comes at a time when the government can little afford such a forensic examination of their consciences. Since the conflict began, many voices from the families of dead British servicemen have been raised in anger, but the reason that Maxine Gentle’s has been quite so effective in pinning Blair to the wall is its youthfully expressed, but admirably controlled grief, fury and contempt being held up in sharp contrast to Blair’s feeble response.

Blair’s letter to Gordon Gentle’s mother Rose, delivered months after the boy’s death, and only after the Gentles had made their anger public, is almost a blueprint of how New Labour’s touchy feely, in-contact-with-your-emotions nonsense, that captured the imagination of an electorate weary of Conservative duplicity and sleaze, is now looking depressingly hollow. In the stark reality of 21st century conflict, when we desperately require a mature, bold and intelligent statesman at the helm, we appear to have abandoned ourselves to a spin-doctoring, phoney hand-wringing, yellow- bellied, self protectionist with the emotional depth of a toddler.

Hence in response to the death of a 19-year-old soldier, sent to die only two months after his passing out parade, Blair starts by apologising to his mother for not having written before, claiming that “I was uncertain, having read your comments in the newspapers, whether you would resent my writing to you.”

That his duty to write, as leader of this country and the man responsible for sending Mrs Gentle’s son into the illegal war that killed him, should be dependent merely on how his message would or not be received, is an admission of such staggering emotional cowardice that it beggars belief. Ignoring the Gentles’ point that the reason for the war was bogus, that the threat from weapons of mass destruction was fantasy, Blair merely reassures them that he still thinks the war was necessary and holds “this belief sincerely”. He ends by telling the Gentles that they remain in his “thoughts and prayers”.



http://www.sundayherald.com/44244

[gatlingforme]

33. very interesting and thank you for such a great and thought provolking

post and link. Sounds like Blair is as disengenuous as Bush$Co. I am going to bookmark this. THanks! What a tragedy to have this happen and have such an asshole remark with no thought put into it. I am surprised he does not have a form letter to respond to these very sad letters from the families, I am sure Bush has one, "insert name here" _______________________, Insert personal msg here__________
What a joke.

[cal04]

39. Soldier's mother plans to sue MoD

The mother of a Scottish soldier killed in Iraq plans to sue the Ministry of Defence over her son's death. Rose Gentle believes the MoD was negligent and breached its duty of care towards her 19-year-old son. Gordon Gentle, who served with the Royal Highland Fusiliers, died in a roadside explosion in Basra in June.

Mrs Gentle, from Glasgow, believes her son's death could have been avoided if his patrol had been equipped with an electronic signal jamming device.

Maxine Gentle's letter to Tony Blair

My name is Maxine Gentle and I am 14 years old. I am the sister of Fusilier Gordon Gentle who died in the war in Iraq on the 28th June 2004. I want my thoughts and feelings to be heard and known.
My feelings are that I think you are rubbish at your job. You don't care about the British public, armed forces or anyone in fact.

My big brother died in the early hours of the morning, and yet, when you and George Bush went on live TV in the afternoon to hand the country back over, you both stood there that afternoon smiling and acting like one big happy family when you both knew well that a British soldier had died that morning.



Letter
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=553319

[gatlingforme]

42. Good, I hope her suit goes forward. That makes me so mad to

read such a poignant letter from such an obviously heartbroken girl is heart-wrenching. And to have it tossed aside like dirt is disgusting. Thanks for that post too. !!! Gives me a better perspective on what soldiers families have to go through every day. very sad.

[Cha]

43. That is so sad! I remember that time and I

was furious, myself. Without knowing anyone personally who was killed in that abominalble tragic blunder.

[Demeter]

23. That Proves It --Blair is Smarter Than Bush

or at least, educable. With some lingering sense of morality. And a strong desire of self-preservation. But he's still a smuck for agreeing to the Iraq War in the first place, and not pulling out in the second. So that makes him slightly less repulsive. Big deal.

[Gyre]

28. Blair will come

No matter how lame-brained the plan, it's Washington that's calling the shots. Rove has decided that the shrub hanging a "medal of freepdom" around the poodle's neck will make a good campaign ad. The poodle will make a show of reluctance but he's going to have kiss the chimp-emporers ring in public. And it will be sooner than later.

Gyre

[Cha]

44. We'll see won't we? I remember when that was awarded.

how incensed we are were..and I totally forgot about it until now.

It will be very telling, of course, if he doesn't go..which I am fervently hoping for England's sake.

[airstrip1]

32. They need an appropriate venue

Perhaps Bush could present the medal to Blair amidst the burning ruins of Najaf

[lumpy]

34. The Congressional Medal of Honor ???

For what??? Honor?Bravery? Outrageous.

[Scairp]

49. Okay, you guys are doing it too

It's not the "Congressional" Medal of Honor. It's just the "Medal of Honor". Common mistake, but reporters should know this stuff.

Link to all Medal of Honor winners. What in the blue blazes did Blair do to win this highest award our country can bestow? I say, upon reflection, that this story is bogus.

http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/moh1.htm

[cal04]

51. US Congress set to honour Blair

Wednesday, 7 May, 2003, 21:36 GMT 22:36 UK
Tony Blair has stood by President Bush over Iraq

The US Congress is set to honour UK Prime Minister Tony Blair with its highest civilian honour. The Congressional Gold Medal was first struck to honour the first US President, George Washington, for his services in the Revolutionary War of Independence against Great Britain..

Now Tony Blair is set to become the first Briton since Sir Winston Churchill to receive such an honour. There have only been 17 foreign recipients of the medal, including such figures as Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, and Pope John Paul II. Among the other US recipients are General Douglas MacArthur and Colin Powell.

The move is in recognition of Mr Blair's support for the US in the war on Iraq. In its resolution, the US Congress says that "Prime Minister Tony Blair has clearly demonstrated, during a very trying and historic time for our two countries, that he is a staunch and steadfast ally" and cites his "outstanding and enduring contributions to maintaining the security of all freedom-loving nations."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3008777.stm

[muriel_volestrangler]

52. I think it's the Congressional Gold Medal he was awarded

on the 14th May 2003: http://www.congressionalgoldmedal.com/TonyBlair.htm

The original idea was for him to give an address to Congress, and have a medal ceremony. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3076183.stm>He gave the address on Friday 18th July, 2003, "But the presentation of the Congressional Gold Medal has been postponed, reportedly because it has not yet been minted."

The BBC stuck that 'reportedly' in there because on Thursday 17th July, Dr. David Kelly had gone missing from his home. By the time Blair gave his speech, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3076801.stm>his body had been found. Blair didn't think it would look good to be photographed accepting a medal just after a government scientist had committed suicide, having exposed Blair as a fraud. It has never looked as though it would be good since.

Apologies for getting the nomenclature wrong.

[Scairp]

55. Yeah, that made no sense

But the foreign press are the ones reporting this "Congressional" Medal of Honor crap. No one but those who have shown exceptional heroism in combat would ever be eligible for this highest of honors.

[progressivebydesign]

38. Say what?

"Mr Blair is immensely popular with large sections of the American public for his staunch support of the Iraq war" I consider that one of the most bizzare statements I have read in years. Sounds as though it was written by... the White House Office of Communications itself!

[Cha]

45. Exactly! rove's sig all over it.

[Tommy]

47. kerry

sorry my friends in not voting for kerry im going with nadar. ive thought about it and i know he can t win, but this war is an evil that men of truth should say it s evil and wrong. don t teach me about what a creepy shit bush is i know but i can t vote for a man that sees war we started as ok. don t be to mad at me. my love to my democratic brothers and sisters.
tommy

[mitchtv]

61. enjoy your trip to Iraq?Iran/Syria/ when Bush starts a draft , my man

there won't be much left- Nader a totally owned and operated subsidiary of the repugnant party.

[LiberalFighter]

48. If I was Blair and I wanted that medal...

I would tell the dipshit that "I would be honor to accept the medal but my schedule precludes me from accepting until after November 10th".

[JohnyCanuck]

54. Or you can FedEx it to me any time at:

Prime Minister
10 Downing St.
London,
England

Thanks,

Your Pal Tony

[LiberalFighter]

57. But then gw* wouldn't be able to show that he is THE prez

[Shallah Kali]

56. Here is the same article on Yahoo - gave it a 5

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040822/wl_uk_afp/britain_us_iraq_040822112642

Avg Rating: 3.67, 367 votes

[autorank]

59. Put him on the "no-fly" list immediately before he changes his mind.

[sweetheart]

60. Wise of him to stay away, yet...

The karmic lashback against his war making in iraq is greater than
not supporting the bush-campaign. I'm glad 2 pennies of conscience
has kept him from recieving an american knighthood.

2 pennies of conscience came to visit him not long ago, a mother and
a sister of a dead soldier, who are furious that their loved one
died for the petty bush-blair axis.

2 pennies can multiply quickly if he is not very sensitive. The
british press would have him alive if he showed up for the bush
campaign.

[GOPAgainstGW]

62. Everyone Turning Back On Bush Fraud

Who could blame the guy, everyone is trying to distance themself from this Bush Middle East disaster.

[lebkuchen]

63. Too bad. I was hoping Zell Miller would introduce him

at the convention.