March 18, 2003

BLAIR'S ULTIMATUM:

Blair: 'Back me or I quit' (London Evening Standard, 3/18/2003)
The Prime Minister told a hushed Commons this afternoon that his Government now faced a "stark choice" - to stand down the thousands of troops now hours away from war, or to hold firm to the course they have set. And he declared "I believe we must hold firm."

He went on to paint a graphic picture of the consequences of retreat, the United Nations reduced to "a talking shop"; Saddam Hussein triumphant; other tyrants encouraged - and the Iraqi people condemned to continued oppression. And he demanded bluntly: "Who will celebrate and who will weep if we take our troops back from the Gulf now?"...

And he said that to retreat now, he believed, "would put at hazard all that we hold dearest ... tell our allies that at the very moment of action, at the very moment they need our determination, that Britain faltered. I will not be party to such a cause."


Blair makes his pitch. Vote at 10 pm tonight London time - 5 pm for us. Posted by Paul Jaminet at March 18, 2003 1:09 PM
Comments

A Mr. Cook , having just resigned from Blair's Govt., if I have that correct, was shown in the parliament stating his reasons/opposition to Bush/Blair on ABC last evening, stating that except for a few hanging chads in Florida we might have Al Gore in office now and not be in this mess. Nice of ABC to choose that bit of rhetoric on the eve of our President's speech.

Interesting thought though; where would we be right now with Gore in office? Still negotiating with Mullah Omer in Afghanistan over al Qaeda?

Implementing a National HMO?

Sitting in Oslo with Arafat? Loosening sanctions on Iraq as part of Gores energy plan, with Chirac's willing assistance? Implementing fuel rationing and increased taxes on fuel consumption? Closing down all coal fired generation not having leading edge exhaust scrubbing technology?

New CAFE standards for autos. Signing Kyoto again?

Thanks for reminding us Mr. Cook; and good luck where ever you are.

Posted by: genecis at March 18, 2003 2:33 PM

Well, Blair's got the vote and made the case. His speech was very good and well worth a read, however jaded we might feel by now. Some insight into the recent shenanigans.



">http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,11538,916789,00.html




Thank goodness we had him at the helm, and of a modern Labour party at that.

Posted by: Alastair at March 18, 2003 6:31 PM
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