June 25, 2007
BUT WAIT, AREN'T HE AND W THOROUGHLY DISCREDITED?:
From No 10 to the Middle East: Blair gets a new job: Support from Bush leads to role as international envoy helping Palestinians (Patrick Wintour and Ian Black, June 26, 2007, Guardian)
Tony Blair has landed a major diplomatic job as the international Middle East peace envoy, responsible for preparing the Palestinians for negotiations with Israel. His role, to be announced today, will be largely to work with the Palestinians over security, economy and governance.Posted by Orrin Judd at June 25, 2007 8:02 PMWorking from an office in Jerusalem, and possibly another in the West Bank, Mr Blair will become the special representative for the Middle East quartet of UN, EU, US and Russia. The announcement comes on the eve of his departure from Downing Street tomorrow and is privately welcomed by Gordon Brown.
The arrangement, which has been under preparation for weeks, is due to be agreed at a meeting of the quartet today.
Friends of Mr Blair suggest he would make it a central purpose of his mission to work to restore Palestinian unity after the armed takeover of the Gaza Strip by the Islamist movement Hamas.
Is he going to fly to Damascus and kill Assad and Mashaal?
Any other gesture is futile.
Posted by: ratbert at June 25, 2007 11:45 PMAt the least, he'll need his lucky shoes:
"The secret of Tony Blair’s success at the dispatch box has been revealed to be a pair of lucky brogues that he has worn at every Prime Minister’s Questions since 1997.
Mr Blair, who believes that “cheap shoes are a false economy”, has seen off four Conservative and two Liberal Democrat leaders in the Church’s handmade leather shoes."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/the_blair_years/article1969242.ece
Posted by: Rick T. at June 26, 2007 8:18 AMWho's funding this folly ... as if I didn't know.
Posted by: erp at June 26, 2007 10:07 AM