Donations are essential to keep Write Out Loud going    

A PERFORMANCE

"A performance" murmured the SAS man, with a resigned sigh,

As he watched and listened to a practiced Blair reply.

He had reason to witness what the millionaire speaker said,

His son had been dispatched to war and became one of the dead.

The former PM had no regret for the decision he had made,

Instead he sought the mea culpa of the price high office paid.

And no doubt George Bush Junior is very grateful to our Tone

For his help redeeming Bush Senior's rep. that the first Iraq war had blown.

The SAS man stared at the shameless image on the TV screen

Surely thinking about the death of a son and what that son had seen.

"A performance" was his damning phrase in words that we could share,

As the world saw the curtain fall at last on belief in Tony Blair.

................................................................................................................

 

 

 

◄ EN PASSANT

HEY, REF! ►

Comments

Profile image

M.C. Newberry

Sun 10th Jul 2016 17:23

Harry - your question is deserving of close consideration.
In this day and age, "intelligence" is the most valuable
currency. Without it, we are blundering around in the
dark, unable to differentiate between fact and fiction
when so many other factors come into play, especially
in far-off nations with newly emergent means to
purchase the latest war weapons with which to achieve
dominance over their perceived enemies. There is
irony in the way the oil that lubricates the wheels of
the modern world now provides the lands which supply it
with the ways to achieve a threatening supremacy
over their neighbours, still based on ancient tribal and
ethnic differences. The Middle-East is a hot-spot
of tensions dating back centuries, yet there is still an
inability by "The West" to keep up with what is going
on there in a constantly evolving state of affairs,
when yesterday's enemy is today's new-found ally...
and vice versa.
Ergo. removing one dictator without foreseeing the
risk of admitting another on to the world stage needs
the utmost care before approving any operation, not
only for its hoped-for success but also the aftermath
- something that went disastrously wrong in the Bush/ Blair enthusiasm for the removal of Saddam Hussein.
But the cauldron still bubbles with barely restrained
antagonisms and ambitions.
Iraq, Iran, Israel - Oy, Oy, Oy!!

Profile image

Harry O'Neill

Sun 10th Jul 2016 13:26

M.C.
I couldn`t stop tittering to myself in church this morning at your fetching the poor Pope into Tony Blair`s troubles...I know the Pope is an `Argie`...but `uneasy conciences`...you`ve absolutely made my Sunday :)

How about this one:

`Dark night in the Vatican:

POPE...Listen, Tone, what do think are the chances of marching into Canterbury and freeing the English from
that vicious religious dictator Welsby?

Tony...Yeah...but will I get absolution?

Pope...Done!

(Exit conspirators into the shadows) `

It`s been great fun, but to get back to the question:

Do think that it might ever be right to forcibly disarm a dictator before he had time to develop nuclear weapons?

Profile image

M.C. Newberry

Sat 9th Jul 2016 17:10

Harry - Blair's relationship with Bush reminded me of that
between Wilson and LBJ years before...cruelly but
devastatingly lampooned in a famous Gerald Scarfe
cartoon that I recall seeing on the cover of Private
Eye, featuring a grovelling Wilson lickspittle hanging on
desperately to LBJ's belt/backside, with the latter
looking back contemptuously over his shoulder.
I was not reassured by Blair's conversion to Roman
Catholicism and his meeting with the Pope of that time.
Religion is often just a convenient refuge for uneasy consciences.

Profile image

Harry O'Neill

Sat 9th Jul 2016 15:18

Ah, well,
Bush made a mistake and Blair - who supported him - has paid for it.

It brings up an interesting thought though:...If we suspect some dictator of possessing W.M.D.`S (and the means of delivering them) when exactly should we invade?

Sadaam-in the previous gulf war-had actually launched 88 scud missiles at Israel (most of which landed) He probably
had no W.M.D`s then...but if what if he had?...would that war have been too late?

Also-given that Israel has their own nuclear `goodies` now-what if the experts had been right and Sadaam had launched...what a jolly old middle-eastern bonfire night we might have had then?...When those sort of things are in danger of popping off at each other isn`t it better to go in before they become operational?...Just a thought.

In this connection it would be useful to give some thought to the stage that Iran had reached in it`s nuclear efforts
before the recent (temporary?) halt.

It seems that, now, the West would rather that the Middle East should be ruled by ruthless dictators rather than any progress for the `Arab Spring`...what a turn around!

Profile image

Lynn Dye

Thu 7th Jul 2016 22:58

I almost felt sorry for Tony Blair - almost but then I gave myself a strong talking to!

Wrong decision, so many lives lost :(

If you wish to post a comment you must login.

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

Find out more Hide this message