He deserves the benefit of the doubt. A lot of doubt, we may add. The war in Iraq may some day in hindsight prove to have served some useful purpose. We cannot see it now. To make the people free is a good thing. But the means to this end – war – can only be justified as a very very last resort. There are many other much more effective ways, which we are not using. The world spends about 1.000 times more on war than on development aid, to mention just one example.
And war can only be justified when attacked. Now, the pro-war crowd will say that the US was attacked. And in a sense it was. But it was not attacked by Iraq. The 9/11 attack was used as an excuse to invade Iraq for a complex of reasons. And the people were not told the truth. When we do the right thing (assuming it was) for the wrong reason (such as a lie), we can never make it right again. This is Goerge Bush’ and Tony Blair’s dilemma.
However, Tony Blair did the impossible in Northern Ireland. His role was critical in achieving peace there. That is why we hope he will do the impossible once again and be the critical factor in achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians. This conflict just cannot go on. The Israeli’s are doing now what was once done to them. They voice their reasons to justify it, but it has to end. So we wish Tony Blair Godspeed indeed.
For those readers who cannot understand what all this has to do with the Caribbean, let us be clear. The world is interconnected and interdependent. What happens in the Middle East affects us in ways seen and unseen. For one thing, the war is one factor in the stagnation of our own development. War destroys the collective wealth. If the US destroys its wealth in the Middle East, less of it can come our way. Don’t think that because Israel is far away, it has nothing to do with us. It does.
However this may be, we will lighten up our daily connect with a humorous video. Life is serious, but not too serious. Let’s laugh, lest we should cry.