Bush 'told British troops will leave Iraq'

The Australian ^ | May 20, 2007

[MinorityRepublican]

I have nothing but respect for Tony Blair and the country that he is currently leading.

[Brit_Guy]

“Blair is one of the WORST PM’s we have ever had.Supporting the war on terrorism is about the only thing he has done well”

Nonsense. He’s been benign not a disaster. He’s been a lion on the war on terror, and despite his party has not ruined the British economy. Compared with Atlee, Heath, Callaghan, McMillan, Churchill in his second stint, Major and Douglas-Hume he doesn’t come off so bad.

I suspect Gordon may live up to your analysis though.

“Oh and its is Britain,not England.Britain is England,Scotland,NI and Wales.And Blair himself is a Scot of Scots-Irish parents.”

No it’s not. Britain is England Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom is those three plus Northern Ireland.

[NZerFromHK]

IMHO the cause and effects are the other way round i.e. British anti-Americanism invites Briton-bashing as a backlash on threads like this. A British poster on this board told me quite adamantly that she cannot accept another Thatcher/Blair but want something of a less active alliance akin to the Kohl/Merkel model. At least some British blog authors like Richard North agree with this assessment.

In fact these same anti-American Britons also sneer at Australians as well, coining terms like "Just a F****** Australian" and saying they couldn't distinguish politically wise Australians and Americans.

[the scotsman]

Jesus,what a mistake....lol. Thanks,never noticed I wrote that.

As for Blair,sorry I do think he has been a dreadful PM.Brown may be only fractionally better.Or much worse...lol

[weegie]

If you honestly believe that the SNP’s victory was anything to do with the amalgamation of Scottish regiments then you nothing at all about Scotland or its politics

[Chode]

gotta pay for that HUGE Navy of theirs somehow...

[Atlantic Friend]

I don’t know. There is a lot of knee-jerk reaction there, that cannot be explained away as mere backlash.

As soon as an article even alludes to some country distanciating itself from the US position on Iraq, negative comments, even insults, abound. if the same country adopts a different attitude, it’s praised to Heaven.

As an example, in 2003, when Denmark said it would support OIF, it was “Denmark, proud land of the Vikings which straddles the world like a giant”. A few weeks later, Denmark said it opposed the presence of armed air marshals on its commercial flights - hardly an anti-American stance - and the same who praised Denmark posted about that country being a “land of maggots”.

The UK has supported the US through every part of the Iraq operations. British soldiers have been deployed there, have bled there, have died there. For all this Freepers have praised Great Britain over the last few years, telling one another how great a country that was - and rightly so IMHO. But should Great Britain dare say it, as a sovereign country, thinks about pulling these forces back, then suddenly Great Britain is a country to despise and belittle, and “oh well if it wasn’t for us they’d be all speaking German over there” ?

If I was a British Conservative, I’d certainly feel more than a bit miffed that my country is supposed to be grateful for great sacrifices Americans made to support it 66 years ago, but cannot expect the same courtesy when it is about sacrifices it did to support Americans merely a few years ago.

If the law of the land is “what have you done for me lately”, then why expect Great Britain to repay for WW2 ? And if it is that a country’s actions have true meaning and should be taken into account, then maybe it would be time to remember that Great Britain was here, even when nobody else was here, and cut them some slack.

[Candor7]

If you honestly believe that the SNP’s victory was anything to do with the amalgamation of Scottish regiments then you nothing at all about Scotland or its politics.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

LOL. You are absolutely right, the amalgamation caused no ill will towards Brown and the Labor government whatsoever.

[Rikstir]

you mean Cameron? The mans a fool, a clone of Blair in every sense of the word. Expect the Cons to copy the campaign labour ran in the mid 1990’s in order to get him in power.
The Cons couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery, and are trying to get to the political centre ground faster than they can carry themselves.

Brown will be less of an orator than Blair. He knows his sums, and is more or less committed to the same political cause as Blair has been, albeit with less panache. UK troops to remain in Iraq probably until the end of 2008, when they will be a become a problem for any government wanting re-election. There still remains some 6,000 in and around Basra, no small commitment.
Its a different story in Afghanistan, where the public largely accept that its a mission needing to be done. There is justifiable and credible evidence of terrorist training camps and financing operations that worked under the Taliban, and the production of Heroin that finds its way to Europe’s streets also provides more reasons for the military involvement there. With broad NATO and some UN backing for ISAF, the fight is much less controversial than Iraq, with more of clearly defined goal as well.

[Rikstir]

be careful of the isolationist talk coming from you people, it didn’t do the world any good the last time round did it?

[Rikstir]

you have no idea how happy I was to read your tirade against this bloke. I’ve been drawn into the same, the man is an isolationist and doesn’t want friends, because then you have no obligations except to yourself.

Nice one pal.