Jimmy Carter Disappointed in Tony Blair

The Telegraph quotes Jimmy Carter as being disappointed in Tony Blair for not being more of a moderating influence on George Bush:

Tony Blair’s lack of leadership and timid subservience to George W Bush lie behind the ongoing crisis in Iraq and the worldwide threat of terrorism, according to the former American president Jimmy Carter.

I have been surprised and extremely disappointed by Tony Blair’s behaviour,” he told The Sunday Telegraph.

I think that more than any other person in the world the Prime Minister could have had a moderating influence on Washington – and he has not. I really thought that Tony Blair, who I know personally to some degree, would be a constraint on President Bush’s policies towards Iraq.”

In an exclusive interview, President Carter made it plain that he sees Mr Blair’s lack of leadership as being a key factor in the present crisis in Iraq, which followed the 2003 invasion – a pre-emptive move he said he would never have considered himself as president.Mr Carter also said that the Iraq invasion had subverted the fight against terrorism and instead strengthened al-Qaeda and the recruitment of terrorists.

It is hard to understand why someone like Tony Blair would follow the lead of someone who we would have thought was by far his inferior both intellectually and due to his lack of principles. If we go along with Robert Kuttner’s assertion that Dick Cheney, not The Decider, is in charge here, then we might also argue that it is really Dick Cheney who is also calling the shots to some degree in Great Britain. In Orwellian terms, this might mean that Dick Cheney rules Oceania and is Big Brother.

 

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