Posted on 07/02/2004 9:50:40 PM PDT by lizmac
Thank Tony Blair via e-mail
I did! He's got over 37 thousand thank you's. Should be more. I clicked 'Alaska' 'cos there was no Australia - we must be out of sight down in the antipodes...
Tony Lloyd (Manchester, Central) (Lab): "Let me continue the theme of Afghanistan. My right hon. Friend is entitled to exempt himself from the following criticism, but one of the worrying features of Kosovo and Afghanistan is that the world moves on quickly and loses interest in completing the job. It is vital, for reasons that my right hon. Friend has already mentioned, that we properly finish the job of reconstruction in Afghanistan, for both that country and the signals that that will convey elsewhere. Will he speculate on American reaction to the failure of NATO allies to play a proper role? The Americans have the opportunity to walk away from NATO."
The Prime Minister: "My hon. Friend's point is correct. The NATO alliance depends on strong American commitment and people should recognise how vital that is. The Americans have some 17,000 troops in Afghanistan, where the strategy is to put provincial reconstruction teams in the north and west of the country. Problems with various private militias exist there, but none the less the Afghan force capability can be built up reasonably successfully. We have been doing that at Mazar-e-Sharif. The real problem is therefore in the south, where pockets of the Taliban and al-Qaeda exist. That requires a fighting force, which the Americans are providing."
"The American contribution is vital to the security of our world. I have always said that the danger is not that the Americans exert their power, but that they could pull up the drawbridge and tell us to get on with our business. We need the Americans. The most powerful contributions at the NATO summit are by the east European countries, which are now democracies and know well the value of the transatlantic alliance."
If you read some of the messages, they are from all over the planet. People from ouside of the US, must be writing their location in the body of their comments.
"The American contribution is vital to the security of our world..."
Tony Blair. The lone voice of sanity in the european wilderness.
"Tony Blair. The lone voice of sanity in the european wilderness."
Tony Blair bttt! I love him, I really love him. I have been on that website and after 9/11 I sent a bona fide snail mail letter to 10 Downing Street. I got a lovely little form letter back not too long after. God bless the Brits, they always write back.
He's put it all on the line for Western Civ and, as I think we can see from Reagan and Thatcher, history will give Tony & W their due, even if the NY Times begrudges them now.
For a leader of the liberal party in the UK he certainly proves that one can do 'the right thing' and think of your country first. He has to fight his own party most of the way and still doesn't back off. The man has, above all else, a great deal of courage. He manages to remain almost humble. He has certainly conquered ego. The man is dedicated and truthful.
I see Blair in the same mould - as you do - as one of the greatest leaders the West has produced. And that includes George W Bush. The empathy between Thatcher and Reagan, and their achievements were to my mind, the brightest moments for freedom in the entire 20th Century.
These are the people who are our true history.
BTTT
He's the Labour Party leader
The leader of the Liberals in the UK is Charles Kennedy.
"He's the Labour Party leader."
And in Australia, the Labor Party are the liberals, just as yours are the Democrats.
Our conservatives call themselves the Liberal Party.
Blair's opposition are conservatives.
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