Would another British Prime Minister have behaved differently? As a hypothetical that can't be answered but it does hint that maybe there are strong pressures to maintain a transatlantic relationship that are worth some cost. The damage to Blair has come largely from the bungling and incompetence driving the management of the Iraq occupation. That festering mess casts the early sophistry and deceits in a harsh light. The cost has become too high. It is Prime Minister Blair's misfortune that his transatlantic partner could not run the show.

Good question. Who's worse? Media or politicians? Mmmmm... let me think. That's a really hard question. Can I declare a tie?

Good question. Who's worse? Media or politicians? Mmmmm... let me think. That's a really hard question. Can I declare a tie?

It seems that media and the journalists are good when they promote politicians, like Tony Blair, but become annoying when they start questioning doomed policies and lies.

The current political system in the Western Democrasies is based in the media that exercise tremendous influence, sometimes beneficial and sometimes not.

In the case of Tony Blair his political demise should not suprise anyone, since he was one of the politicians that relied much to the "media hype" around his personality. What he should have known is that too much exposure is bad at the end, and you cannot do nothing about it. In any case don't blame the press!

Would that it were true. Your opinion / description fits a dwindling population of Press members.

Look, I don't usually read British newspapers, so I don't know how the British media handled the run-up to the war in Iraq. I do know, though, how the American media handled it and it was horrible.

The New York Times's reporter, Judith Miller, turned herself into a stenographer for the Bushies and then tried to hide behind a non-existent privilege when Fitzgerald was investigating the Valerie Plame affair. The Washington Post editoral staff swallowed the Bushies lies about Iraq hook. line, and sinker. The electronic media all decided to copy Fox News and its infamous right-wing tilt in promoting the war.

And what happened to the media pundits who were wrong about Iraq? They are mostly making out like bandits and being promoted to better paying positions.

It is past time for the media to own up to its culpability in what is becoming the biggest U.S. foreign policy diaster of the post-WWII period.

I think that we should all share some of the blame! I didn't believe the WMD reports at first, because I was so angry about my country, Australia, assisting in a proposed illegal inavsion of another country. Yet, I allowed myself to be persuaded by arguments from Tony Blair, Colin Powell and others.
Instead of remaining sceptical, in the hysteria of the moment (politically and media driven) I faltered. Once started, nationalism , in all its ugly guises, forced many of us to lose sight of our democratic right to question our leaders when we believed they were doing wrong. That same nationalistic fervour made for great T.V., radio, and newspaper grabs.
When the political forces were discredited and many of us regained a better perspective, it was, without doubt, the politicians who had deceived us. The deception was reported to us by outlets of the media. Why shoot the messenger? Populist newsmongering is common in any period, but it can't possibly be considered as dangerous as politicians who are/were determined to go to war.

I think that we should all share some of the blame! I didn't believe the WMD reports at first, because I was so angry about my country, Australia, assisting in a proposed illegal inavsion of another country. Yet, I allowed myself to be persuaded by arguments from Tony Blair, Colin Powell and others.
Instead of remaining sceptical, in the hysteria of the moment (politically and media driven) I faltered. Once started, nationalism , in all its ugly guises, forced many of us to lose sight of our democratic right to question our leaders when we believed they were doing wrong. That same nationalistic fervour made for great T.V., radio, and newspaper grabs.
When the political forces were discredited and many of us regained a better perspective, it was, without doubt, the politicians who had deceived us. The deception was reported to us by outlets of the media. Why shoot the messenger? Populist newsmongering is common in any period, but it can't possibly be considered as dangerous as politicians who are/were determined to go to war.

Bashir,

You are one of the only ones calling the spade the
spade. The Brits including Blair have put rings in the American noses for years and had them
engage in wars and other conflicts and ran for cover.

You are not only 100% accurate on Iraq since
the Neo Con artists joined in the swan song along with a very hateful and corrupted Chalabi no where to be found now.

As the Americans lose blood and young brave men,
( not that the Brits are not losing either)
The American treasury is being looted to the
tune of a half a trillion. How much did the
Brits go for? How is it that all of the Gulf
nations are opening branches of their universities in the Gulf at rapid pace while the Americans have not opened one in years? All management jobs requiring MBA's are going to the Brits from their former colonies. All the better of the business dealings are going to the EU and Brits. The Brits will enjoy the spoils while
America will lose face and flip the bill once again. Maybe we have a Marshall Plan for us?

Did anyone asked why is it a country the size of
Qatar ordered 80 Airbus planes immediately after a Sarkozy win ? What was that all about?
That one stinks like bad fish

You see the Brits know we have the Foreign
Corrupt practices act, The Sarbanes Oxley-moron
act and a host of non competitive laws which
makes it impossible to pay any tea money in the land of tea and money. So if the under or over the table pay off is illegal our British allies
( hahaha) are only to glad to pay and win the
contracts. After all we are in their sandbox
that they carved out. American wake up and wake up fast. Our enemies may not be the ones your
thinking of.

Anymore stupid ideas should be run by a computer
model first to see if we have a stupid idea
That mummy of a Secretary of State needs a rest
Maybe she needs to go back to school.
We backed the bad horse three times in the
land of Israel ( There was never a Palestine)
It was a Roman creation, just like The Brits made Jordan and Iraq and Kuwait. So get this straight
the sooner we get a clear picture the better it
is we say goodbye to the war that Blair started

Tony is right. Except that I do not know what "feral" means.

But he did not call names to journalists when they were supporting his "Dodgy dossier".

Mr.Blair is even more disgusting than the Idiot in Chief(Bush).

Felicity;Very nice posting.

May I add what they teach in Med Schools "the eyes don't see what the mind does not know".
As a corollary if you believe that Saddam had WMD than that's what you will see.

Tony-Al-Basra and Bush-Al-Baghdadi, were hoodwinked by Cheney-Al-Kirkuk and Rumsfeld-Al-Tikriti,
( The two Grand Masters).
The Media is no longer free but a slave of the Military-Industrial-Complex.

The opportunity to voice a limited and controllable dissent is also a part of this grand strategy. And even every now and then they will sacrifice someone like Scooter Libby to make things look good.

It has always been the hallmark of the Tyrants that they honor their adversaries to let out some steam and give the semblance of fairness.
Example:
Just look around at the Native American names that litter the landscape of the United States.
Makes one wonder if they really did such dreadful things to the Red Indians.
Even then they employed the same technique and hysteria and spread fear and terror so that they can then justify raiding the Red Indian villages.
By some estimates 6 million were wiped out.
They were called the "savages".
While the then Tyrants felt elated and thought that they were Patriots.

Well said!... I say, better Feral Beasts than a Pretty Poodle!

Bashir Goth obviously has an ax to grind but grinding it on the Blair outburst will only make it dull. Blair was talking about the media trashing of people in the news. It would seem that Goth is guilty of the very thing Blair was lashing out at - namely, attacking the individual rather than the content of his message.

How true it is that we only ask the questions that our theories tell us to ask.

Tony Who????????

for Tony blair i will qoute the this line

'when devil gave sadness, god came in my memory.'

I do agree with Bashiir Goth that Blair does not have to blame no one else but himself by not only taking down the good name of Great Britian, but by defaming all the great lawyers of the world like him by becoming poodle for Bush who can not finish one sentence.
Is not sad that Blair who had the potential to repair the damage done by Mrs, Thatcher, reduced himself lab dog for one of the dumpest presidents United States of America ever had or may ever have.
Blair's name calling is a tactic used by all losers who do not want to admit their short comings.
Both in United States and in Uk as well as the rest of the world indpendent, vibrant, investigative, aggressive, persistant, and tireless are journalists are needed and required to inform the public of every country in the World.
Because of the vision of the founding fathers of the United States of America we have." First Amendment" which prtects and save gaurds freedom of speech and freedom of the media from intimidation and arbitrary persecution.
Without great journalists who sacrificed a lot including their lives in some cases the world will have been worse place than it is now.
Blair have to be man enough and admit that he blew it and blew it badly by blindly following blind Bush.

Well said, Bashir. My only quibble is that Blair's WMD report is not generally called the "September dossier" in Britain.

It's universally known as the "Dodgy dossier".

Strangely, Blair picks on the respected Independent newspaper, rather than, say, the trashy Sun, owned by his best pal Rupert Murdoch.

He had no complaint about the Sun's totally misleading 2002 headline "45 minutes from destruction", about Iraqi WMDs. That's because that particular media inaccuracy had been deliberately planted by Tony Blair.

Even the New York Times' Jayson Blair, who was fired for making up stories and quotes, has done less injury to the truth than Tony Bliar.

Blair is a mere coward.

I'm not particulary happy with Bush, Blair, or the newsmedia in the aftermath of 9/11, but that does't change the fact that Blair is right. (Perhaps it would have sounded better if it came from someone else, but ultimately it doesn't matter who it comes from, if it has the ring of truth to it)

Oy, enough self-righteous back-slapping. You are definitely more lackey than beast. Carry on with the distractions.

Bashir is good at zeroing in on the obvious target, Tony Blair. But he doesn't seem to have the integrity to look at his own profession.

It's true that Blair was supporting one of the most incompetent foreign policy approaches of the 20th Century. But he is also right in saying that the media has lost it's way.

And the fact that most in the media are unable to look themselves in the mirror and admit the sleaze and celebrity worship -- that says something about just how bad the media has gotten.