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Alias
Joined: 24 Jan 2003
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 Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2007 4:02 pm Post subject: Blair blames media for anti-war mood |
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Tony Blair has turned the blame for his disastrous military campaigns in the Middle East on anti-war dissidents and the media.
Warning it would take the West another 20 years to defeat Islamic terrorism, the Prime Minister used a wide-ranging "swansong" lecture on defence to denounce critics and the media who have been a thorn in his side since the invasion of Iraq.
He also dismissed those - including many defence chiefs - who claimed the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath had fuelled insurgents and terrorism.
The Prime Minister rejected as "ludicrous" the notion that removing two dictatorships in Afghanistan and Iraq and replacing them with a UN-backed process to democracy had made Britain a greater target for international terrorism.
However, Mr Blair's speech last night provoked widespread criticism from MPs and military chiefs.
Speaking to an invited audience of military commanders and academics on board a warship in Plymouth, the Prime Minister disclosed his fears that the West no longer had the stomach for sustained military campaigns. He also appeared to blame the media for the global outrage provoked by the war in Iraq.
"[Islamic terrorists] have realised two things: the power of terrorism to cause chaos, hinder and displace political progress especially through suicide missions; and the reluctance of Western opinion to countenance long campaigns, especially when the account it receives is via a modern media driven by the impact of pictures.
"They now know that if a suicide bomber kills 100 completely innocent people in Baghdad, in defiance of the wishes of the majority of Iraqis who voted for a non-sectarian government, then the image presented to a Western public is as likely to be, more likely to be, one of a failed Western policy, not another outrage against democracy."
Acknowledging the public backlash against the Iraq war, Mr Blair said: "Public opinion will be divided, feel that the cost is too great, the campaign too long, and be unnerved by the absence of 'victory' in the normal way they would reckon it.
But the Prime Minister added: "They will be constantly bombarded by the propaganda of the enemy, often quite sympathetically treated by their own media, to the effect that it's really all 'our', that is the West's fault. That, in turn, impacts on the feelings of our armed forces. They want public opinion not just behind them but behind their mission."
He warned that the terrorists had learnt how to use the media to undermine public opinion. He cited a website, called LiveLeak, showing "gruesome images" of the "reality of war" as the kind of propaganda weapon that was being used by international terrorism.
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http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0113-03.htm |
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Milwaukiedave
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Location: Goseong
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| Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2007 8:37 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm sure Bush blames the media as well. It's all one big liberal conspiracy. |
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Alias
Joined: 24 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2007 10:49 am Post subject: |
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Tony Blair's spin unspun
By Colin Brown
* BLAIR SAYS: "The parody of people in my position is of leaders who, gung-ho, launch their nations into ill-advised adventures without a thought for the consequences."
ANALYSIS: No amount of lectures will erase the fact that Iraq is now a mess because of the failure to plan for the peace after Saddam was toppled, and it has made Iran the dominant force in the region.
* BLAIR SAYS: "Public opinion ... will be constantly bombarded by the propaganda of the enemy ... to the effect that it's really all "our", that is the West's, fault."
ANALYSIS: Mr Blair is losing the propaganda war over Iraq, but blaming the media for covering the reporting of the horror of daily life in Baghdad is a sign of his desperation.
* BLAIR SAYS: "The risk here - and in the US where the future danger is one of isolationism not adventurism - is that the politicians decide it's all too difficult and default to an unstated, passive disengagement, that doing the right thing slips almost unconsciously into doing the easy thing."
ANALYSIS: Mr Blair appears worried that after handing over power to Gordon Brown, his successor may come under pressure to do the "easy thing" and bring the troops home before the 'job is done'.
* BLAIR SAYS: "The extraordinary job that servicemen do needs to be reflected in the quality of accommodation provided for them and their families, at home or abroad. So much of what is written distorts the truth."
ANALYSIS: Mr Blair is clearly irritated not only at the media but also at defence chiefs for criticisms of the "overstretch" of the armed forces.
* BLAIR SAYS: "September 11 wasn't the incredible action of an isolated group. It was the product rather of a worldwide movement, with an ideology based on a misreading of Islam."
ANALYSIS: Mr Blair still linked September 11 with the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. But there is no evidence that Iraq was used as a training ground for terrorism. It is now.
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khyber
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Compunction Junction
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| Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2007 4:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Publically blaming people who disagree with you is a fairly desperate move. Claiming that your poorly thought out plan is not working because of their critique is playgroundy. |
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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2007 5:02 pm Post subject: |
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And failing to recognize the existence of a liberally-slanted, oppositionist media is either hopelessly naive or cynically disingenuous.
By the way, I like you signature line, Milwaukiedave. I trust you know the background behind it.. |
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Wangja
Joined: 17 May 2004
Location: Seoul, Yongsan
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| Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2007 5:19 pm Post subject: |
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| Gopher wrote: |
And failing to recognize the existence of a liberally-slanted, oppositionist media is either hopelessly naive or cynically disingenuous.
By the way, I like you signature line, Milwaukiedave. I trust you know the background behind it.. |
I'm not convinced that the absence of opposing media would be a plus for democracy.
The opposition in UK is not at all from the left only. |
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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2007 5:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Wangja wrote: |
| I'm not convinced that the absence of opposing media would be a plus for democracy. |
Agreed.
Let us merely understand that much of the media -- particularly those in its ranks who oppose, ridicule, or mock everything and everyone to the left or right of them, depending where they stand -- considers itself a maker as much as a reporter of history -- especially political history.
I have no problem disagreeing with W. Bush -- and Blair, I imagine, if I knew enough about British politics to take a position -- and at the same time recognizing his and Blair's complaints about the media's fanning the flames of anti-X, Y, or Z with its dramatic, sensationalist reporting and, at times, unfair, loaded questions, etc. These are not mutually-exclusive phenomena.
Last edited by Gopher on Sun Jan 14, 2007 5:29 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Wangja
Joined: 17 May 2004
Location: Seoul, Yongsan
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| Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2007 5:27 pm Post subject: |
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| Gopher wrote: |
| Wangja wrote: |
| I'm not convinced that the absence of opposing media would be a plus for democracy. |
Agreed.
Let us merely understand that much of the media -- particularly those who oppose, ridicule, or mock everything and everyone to the left or right of them, depending where they stand -- considers itself a maker as much as a reporter of history -- especially political history.
I have no problem disagreeing with W. Bush (and Blair, I imagine, if I knew enough about British politics to take a position) and at the same time recognizing their complaints about the media. These are not mutually-exclusive phenomena. |
Yep, I don't disagree with any of that either.
Here's an example from the conservative Times: it's not an opinion piece, it's reporting Bush.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2547843.html
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Iraq is much less stable now than before we invaded, admits Bush
Tim Reid in Washington
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The invasion of Iraq has greatly destabilised the country, President Bush admitted yesterday � but he still insisted that Iraqis should be grateful to America for starting the war.
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I am sorry, but when the present head of the world's most ppwerful nation comes up with such stuff, the media and public are entitled to be sceptical.
Edit: the last paragraph reads:-
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73% of US voters backed the invasion in 2003
70% are against sending more troops now
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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2007 5:33 pm Post subject: |
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I do not exactly follow your example, Wangja. Or why you think that source's reporting what W. Bush said or believed was offensive. But neither will I defend the Conservative press for a moment, either.
In America: FoxNews, Coulter, Limbaugh, others -- especially on talk radio. People who spoke of "Billary," for example, during the Clinton Administration and complained that he and his wife were allowing UN "black helicopters," etc. to subjugate America to an evil, one-world govt.
They suck, too. And mostly for the same reasons I criticize leftist media, above. |
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stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 1:25 am Post subject: |
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| I believe Blair is the finest British Prime Minister since Churchill, regardless of the war's outcome. And I'm so glad he got a rousing standing ovation in the U.S. Congress when he visited the House chambers a long while back after Bush praised the alliance with Britain. The Anglo-American alliance endures despite the best efforts of the left-wing fringe of the Democrat and Labour parties and I for one unabashedly say "God Bless you, Tony." |
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