Blair to fly to the rescue
Am I the only one who thinks this might not be such a great idea?
Speaking at the UN in New York, where the Lebanon resolution was unanimously agreed, foreign secretary Margaret Beckett said the prime minister's trip would take place "in the coming period".
It is expected to happen this autumn, and will focus on visits to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
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The prime minister's announcement comes in the wake of the embarrassing rebuff he received at the G8 summit in Russia, when President Bush rejected his offer to visit the region in a bid to resolve the Lebanon crisis.
His commitment to renew the push for a Middle East peace plan is likely to ease some of the concerns of Labour backbenchers who have been increasingly concerned at the government's policy in the region.
What a relief! Now that his boss has given Blair permission to go to the region, Tony can now put his much reduced considerable international influence to good effect. I can just imagine the hordes of surviving Lebanese and Palestinian civilians crawling out of the rubble to express their gratitude and holding up their maimed children to be kissed by the man who made such a huge effort to delay a ceasefire. Incidentally, the Foreign Secretary has not visited the region throughout this crisis. Blair is unlikely to get a friendly reception in Lebanon or Gaza. He'll have to go to Israel to get the heroes welcome he craves.
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Since when has Israel
Since when has Israel complied with a UN SCR ? We are still waiting for them to comply with UN SCR 242
Would Blair be asking them to comply ?
I just can't see Blair
I just can't see Blair asking Ehud Olmert to comply with anything. All the complying will have to be done by the Palestinians and Lebanese. It is amusing to see Israel so keen to see UN SCR 1559 implemented as it is pretty much the only resolution they acknowledge. Its not just UN SCR 242 that has been ignored, Many of the SC resolutions on this list are still active despite their age. There would of course be many more but the USA now vetoes anything that so much as hints at a criticism of Israel these days.
parhaps he's just going to
parhaps he's just going to brief lord levy on his criminal case and beg him not to mention his name?
...and the Palestinian
...and the Palestinian territories.
That'll be East Jerusalem then, which is of course fully locked down by Israel.
With a bit of luck, Blair
With a bit of luck, Blair will go to Palestine ... and never come back.