Posted by LONDON – Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair defends his foreign policy record, revealing that the experience of Iraq and Afghanistan has not diminished his commitment to taking on opponents.
Globalisation has made military intervention in rogue regimes overseas more necessary than ever,
Tony Blair argues in his memoirs.
Not toppling Robert Mugabe from his dictatorship in Zimbabwe is one regret voiced by the former prime minister.
His belief that Iran needs to be confronted in its nuclear ambitions and by implication, as a last resort prevented by force, shines through. The experience of Iraq and Afghanistan has not diminished his commitment to taking on opponents.
His appetite for international affairs, he admits, has been sharpened by his role as a mediator in the Middle East. “Personally I have never felt a greater sense of frustration or indeed a greater urge to leadership,” he writes in his postscript.
But it was the Balkans which formed the crucible for his new policy of liberal interventionism. “My awakening over foreign policy was … abrupt,” he explains. “It happened over Kosovo.”
Distinctions between foreign and domestic policy are breaking down as consequence of globalisation, he maintains. Television news beams foreign crises into every living room. “… The world [is] interconnected not just economically or in self-interest but emotionally, the heart as well as the head.”
Looking back he admits he was surprised: “The 1997 campaign was fought almost exclusively on a domestic policy basis. If you had told me on that bright May morning as I first went blinking into Downing Street that during my time in office I would commit Britain to fight four wars, I would have been bewildered and horrified.”
Foreign policy based on “narrow self interest” is outdated, he asserts. “Global alliances [have to] be … based on shared global values.” That realisation has resulted in the undermining of the old political divisions of left and right.
“.. We ended up in the bizarre position where being in favour of the enforcement of liberal democracy was a ‘neo-conservative’ view and non-interference in another nation’s affairs was ‘progessive’.”
Kosovo was his first test. The “ethnic cleansing” and killings “completely changed my own attitude to foreign policy”, he admits. While Europe stalled, in favour of pacification rather than resolution, Blair was “extraordinarily forward in advocating a military solution”.
He persuaded Bill Clinton, the US president, he suggests, to take part in aerial bombardments even though there was no direct US interest in the region. “I saw it essentially as a moral issue. And that, in a sense, came to define my view on foreign and military intervention.”
Clinton, he says, was “the most formidable politician I had ever encountered”. He exults in their close political empathy, describing them on one occasion working US crowds “like two old music hall queens”.
Many opposed Blair. He compresses their counter-arguments. “Beginning wars is relatively easy; it’s ending them that’s hard. Innocent people die; unintended consequences develop; bad situations can be made worse.”
On the range of his military targets, he comments: “People often used to say to me: If you got rid of the gangsters in Sierra Leone, Milosevic, the Taliban and Saddam, why can’t you get rid of Mugabe? The answer is I would have loved to; but it wasn’t practical (since in his case, and for reasons I never quite understood, the surrounding African nations maintained a lingering support for him and would have opposed any action strenuously).”
Over Kosovo, Blair recounts how he tried to “stoke up concern” with other European leaders. Kosovo became the template for his subsequent military interventions. His close relationship with and affection for his generals is a recurring theme.
“The leader has to decide whether the objective is worth the cost,” he states. “What’s more, he or she must do so unsure of what the exact cost might be or the exact price of failing to meet the objective. … In this context, by the way, indecision is also decision. … Omission and commission both have consequences.”
The expedition to restore democracy to Sierra Leone in 2000, Blair says, “is one of the least discussed episodes of my 10 years as prime minister, but it’s one of the things of which I am most proud.” His father used to teach at Freetown University, in the African nation’s capital.
A lawyer by training, the former prime minister’s discussion of his early foreign adventures contain remarkably few references to United Nations resolutions or international law.
In one passage he comes curiously close to expressing a sneaking admiration for the bold action of the Bolsheviks in Russia in 1917 rather than the Kerensky’s social democrat government.
Seeking to systematise his theory of foreign interventions in regimes that are “oppressive or dictatorial”, he writes: “They may pose no outside or external threat; or it may be easily contained diplomatically. It may – as with Mugabe – be impractical to intervene.”
A judgment has to be made. “If change will not come by evolution, should it be done by revolution? Should those who have the military power contemplate doing so?”
On Iraq, he insists that he never regarded those who opposed war in Iraq as “stupid or weak-minded”.
About 9/11, he concedes that: “I misunderstood the depth of the challenge.. . If I had known then that a decade later we would still be fighting in Afghanistan, I would have been profoundly disturbed. I hope I would have still taken the same decision, both there and in respect of Iraq.”
Blair is uncompromising in the face of the dangers he perceives in Tehran, discussing it in the context of the growing danger that terrorists will obtain nuclear weapons. “It is America that leads the challenge to Iran and its nuclear ambitions,” he says. “But let us be frank: Iran is a far more immediate threat to its Arab neighbours than it is to America.”
…”That’s why Iran matters. Iran with a nuclear bomb would mean others in the region acquiring the same capability; it would dramatically alter the balance of power in the region, but also within Islam.”
No wonder he was toppled.He was too much of a dreamer.fly all the way to SADc to attack a country right in the middle of SADC.general Lord Guthrie is the one who advised him otherwise he would have come for another bloody nose on a third front.
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toppled by whom?
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Gordon Brown.He did not finish his term.just like Mbeki was toppled.Ukasapedza it means you were toppled.It can be bloody or bloodless
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zanu brains are affecting you abel sometimes keep your not so well thought opinions to yourself.
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who is this Abel by the way ,otherwise he is a son of one the zanu minister
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Samphy first tell us who are you?
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Samphy your name is wierd.I bet you have trouble trying to pronounce that name.
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Ko i coup here? Munongo gara muchifunga kubvisana pachigaro chete, kwete ku umba nyika., saka tichigara tiri kumas**** nguva dzese tinofunga se mhuka.
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Nyika takaumba,takavaka for 19 years until the MDC came into the scene to reverse that.They are being used by the West to effect a regime change on behalf of the British.
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my name its not wierd ,by the way wats the meaning of R.B.X.but for my side you name and surname its longer than mine,anyway my name its Greek name meaning peacemaker.Ok you said 19 years until e MDCcame into scene ton reverse,dat.Its fine lets wait and see were zanu and its bosses end up with and britain have nothing to do with zim,people of zim have their rights to change thier leader,so juss wait and see after election next year,i promise u man,chart with u tomrrw
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Whatever or whoever says about removing or not removing but the basic idea the majority of zimbabweans want Mugabe off their face. Sick and tired. Most zimbabweans want absolute change whether you like it or not. If you disagree then you belong to the minority because the majority want him out yesterday.
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MDC’s godfather-Blair is a pathetic failure .He failed to effect a regime change using the MDC for 8 years.He failed in Iraq and Afghanistan.He failed the British people.He is still obssessed with the revolutionary Mugabe up to now.Blair was terribly mistaken to think that a regime change was going to be easily effected in Zimbabwe.Blair mobilised his western allies to impose sanctions and sabbotage our economy inorder to turn people against Mugabe.This strategy almost worked but it’s now in tatters as Zimbabwe’s economy is booming again,new black farmers are prospering,Mugabe is getting standing ovations at summits,while Blair is holed up in his miserable apartment crying over his failures.
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Blair did not allow hunger on british tables unlike our brutal leaders who score diplomatic victories at international conferences while common people are starving to death.
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Dzimai,there you are,having no shame defending your godfather-Blair ,when the same evil leader imposed sanctions against your own people.You see,this is where we differ with you guys.You seek to defend British racist actions that destroy your own people simply becoz you want to continue getting filthy money from them,in the process,you subvert your own people’s interests.For example,right now,tsvangirai as the PM of Zim is supossed to condemn British racist actions of barring Scotland cricket team from visiting Zim,but we all know that he can’t condemn them for that evil because the British are his constituency,his handlers.I’ll not be surprised if tsvangirai actually defends the British for that.What a disgrace.
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u are totally wrong ,sport and politics its totally defers so those guys for cricket are there for playing nt for politrics my man,so tsangison its not included in ZIFA ,he is there to have better relationship with other contries ,that his real job[ keep on pulling ur socks mr zimbabwe[tsangison] one of the days the mighty GOD shall answer u]
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samphy…You rightly said.”sport and politics its totally defers so those guys for cricket are there for playing not for politrics my man,”I agree,that is why tsvangi,as the PM is supposed to serve national interests by condemning the racist British action of trying to mix politics and sports at the expense of Zimbabwe sport.You said “he is there to have better relationship with other countries.” That does not mean that he stays silent when his country’s sportsmen are being subjected to racism by other countries.
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with much respect Mr Musorowenyoka thats real
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Blair and Mugabe think alike, they are all hardliners. They use force, to much force for that matter. Its possible to achieve peace without a gun. Mugabe and Blair say No. These men have a shrewd policy of “burning the whole village in order to protect it.”
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unfortunately i mighty think of ja-a bob,he cant even think of other people,s life its high time now he must step down,he is making us suffers,stupid frm other countreis.Imagine ,if even visit any african country u wil be undereted
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Samphyy…He steps down on his own terms,that’s what he wants.Don’t force him to step down becoz you will not accomplish it.What you can do now is to call off the illegal sanctions you invited,stop selling out and tell your western handlers to stop the regime change campaign ,then he can consider retiring on his own terms.
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And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth, except for the British Labour bulldog which has no teeth at all.
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chuckle!!!!!!!!!!!!
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MDC life is on intensive care now, wait and see how Zanu will respond.
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intensive care,are u kidding or wat
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Tsvangirayi in Nigeria already
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Guys, when all is said and done. Pro or anti Blair……let’s get back to the meat and bread of the discussion, which is that Mugabe and Zanu have failed us. They have detractors in the west and their soured relationship with Blair but what does Blair and his failed policies in the Arabian countries or the admission that he wanted to remove Mugabe have to do with the abject failure by Zanu to govern? The theft was not caused by Blair, the brain drain, the plummeting of our agricultural output, the insecurity of investors, the safety of deposits. And most importantly, the systematic use of state machinery to abuse citizens. Blair never turned his army on it’s own citizens or demolished shacks, after failing to provide houses in the first place.
Perhaps you guys don’t know the level of complicity Zanu has in the rot in the country, the abuse of Rhodes scholarships, the tender rigging, the RBZ special door for Zanu patrons to get forex at knock down prices, Chiadzwa. At the end of the day, what do these abuses have to do with Blair?
Let’s stop the propaganda, we know the west always has an agenda in Africa but is that good enough an excuse for mis-governance?
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Omuhle,the tragedy we plunged into since sept 1999,can be directly attributed to your party and its western handlers.In regards to the plummeting of agricultural output,this is becoz of political instability,droughts and also the fact that new black farmers were embargoed from accessing credit facilities(illegal sanctions)so they could not access forex needed to buy inputs like what white farmers used to do.Manufacturing companies in Zim were also denied credit facilities and were barred from some western markets,and this led to a massive decline in capacity utilisation.Your leaders consipred with white industrialists to close their companies and worsen unemployement.When it comes to insecurity of investors,you know the role the MDC and the West played in portraying Zimbabwe as a risky,politically unstable country to do business with.That perception of risk is a direct creation of your party.This led to a massive drop in Foreign Direct Investment(FDI) and also sharp decline in tourism industry,manufacturing and agricultural industry.By the way,this is not zanu propaganda,these are facts.
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this zealot is farked up! fark off you bloody ngochani. Kungo taura matu.zvi ega ega. Ndimi makauraya nyika, busy looting state assets and not respecting property rights and human rights. Stupid draconian policies like POSA and AIPPA….for you own information, no amount of propanda will ever change the fact that infringement of human rights is the major cause of Zimbabwe’s misery. Kuswero tuma ma green bhombha kuti vaparadze nyika yedu. Kuswero unza ma zhing zhong kuti mube ngoda dzedu. You farking zealots. VOTE for MDC, vote against zanu pf zhing zhong puppets!
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unogona kutanga kutodhunya sekutamba tedza.ita steady
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i wil really support u Tedza,the so called zhing zhong they dont have any progress in zim rather thani distroying it like wat war vetarians and green bombers did.The zhong people must find something better to show us there investment,they are looting our ngoda ;support u mr tsangi
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What has any of this got to do with the brutality against Zimbabweans by Mugabe/ZANU PF?
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The land reform (land grab, as you may want to call it) was caused by the Claire Short letter allowing the Blair government (on the instructions of Blair) to renege from their obligations dating back to 1979. The treacherous ESAP programmes destroyed the economy slowly but surely. They are designed for that purpose. Blair did not demolish shacks in the UK because there arent any. Thanks to their draconian rules against establishing such stuctures. They have the stringest planning laws on the plannet and have even destroyed million pound mansions for falling foul of their planning laws. I am talking of 2009 and 2010 demolitions. Why should Zimbabwe not have planning laws and why should those laws not be followed? You may have concerns about Zanu-pf and the rest of it, you have perpetually failed to make a case for the MDC as the alternative to all that riles you. The MDC continues to embarass you with yheir actions and utterances. They are even rigging their own constitution. Corrupt city councils, widows houses, violence, infighting, control by the west, (Listen to Blair, David milliband, Gordon Brown, British ambassadors to Zimbabwe and South Africa, Charles Ray, various US departments of state etc) They own the MDC. Its their money working here anyway. Redress all that, then you can present the MDC to us as an alternative. The 2008 successes of the MDC was duet to the duress caused on people by hunger and sanctions, 2011 is a different animal altogether. Please announce the dates now and let Battle be joined. Viva Zimbabwe yeropa!
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Editor
Please can we have this tedza sensored, its now boring and immature the language he uses. We want to discuss and put our views across not showing off how obscene words one can use. Unless of-course you want this site to turn into direct competition with a site we all know.
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Please can we have this tedza sensored, its now boring and immature the language he uses. We want to discuss and put our views across not showing off how obscene words one can use. Unless of-course you want this site to turn into direct competition with a site we all know.
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No he is mdc he doesnt need sensor. You dare doit and you see what happens. Give it whatever term you like, its up to you.
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we dont tolerate evil zanu pf henchmen here…stupid CIO puppets. go to hell you matha farkas
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R B X junior dont talk rubbish. we are talking of zanu pf plundering resources and looting . your so called war vets demanded compensation and they were given each a hefty 50 000 which was equivalent to 10 000 us that time when the exchange rate was 1:5 . then came another war vet compensation which fake people went to the doctors to have them certified as 90% disable like tsano wamudhara. As if that was not enough , mugabe’s policies of land grab further destroyed the country and plunged further into oblivion. Now they have more than 5 farms each and you want to find a scapegoat to talk rubbish. people who vote know what they are doing , thats why they want someone out as a matter of urgency.
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That is what u read in the western media,that is what they want u to believe so that you will support their stooges.We are saying that we are not blameless,we did some mistakes but if it wasn’t for the MDC’s ruinous activities the country would not have plunged into a disaster..The economy was not moving around 1998-9 but the MDC came to kill it off.
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stupid zanu pf zhing zhong stooges, looting our resources and send ammunition to brutalize zimbabweans. shame on you zealots.
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what you are forgeting you zanu thugs is that the problems you are talking with the west are just the results of what zanu pf did. zanu pf started it. they should finish what they have started but unfortunately they cant .
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I thought the west started it. What did we start nhaiwe musoro.
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BMX, it’s good to hear you use the words “we are not blameless”. Perhaps we can have some discourse now…..
You also say it’s what the west wants us to think. About war vets gratuity and the looting of the disability fund? No, let’s not even go there. We know what happened with that fund, the 100% disability claims etc. let’s leave that one untouched, we all know what happened.
Now, about this blame…..let’s begin by stating what is wrong in Zim and then determining who is to blame for it, where it went wrong, how to fix it and we need frank admissions here. OK?
The economy – I know all about sanctions or the sabotage by western forces i.e colluding to drive away investors, the under utilisation of capacity etc and I agree to some extent but the response by govt is what made the situatio nworse. In another post I mentioned how sanctiosn should have driven us to a smarter, more efficient way of ensuring the little that we have is used to focus on essentials. Zanu, in their wisdom, decided to enrich the few who were required to keep them in power. The soldiers with hefty pay rises, the chefs with multiple farms and cheap loans from Gono.
Which manufacturing companies were denied credit? You mistake comapnies which require forex to produce with Zim industry. Take Zisco for instance, where does forex come into play in their business of making steel? Iron ore is in Redcliff, coke from Hwange, lime from Dorowa or what not, labour in Torwood. So how come it went south?
I also think those companies that genuinely need lines of credit were hampered by the land grab. Banks were uncertain of repayment given the jambanja they’d just seen on the farms where security of tenure was ignored by Zanu. Would you lend your money in these circumstances?
As for MDC culpability in the risk assesment, come on. Zanu PF takes every opportunity to say the British did this, did that. Which toursit do you think would come under such scenarios. It was never “the British govt” or “Blair”!. It was the British. You know, been a tourist, far away from home, at the mercy of thuggish behaviour, no phone calls allowed home, no legal representation, even if allowed aid, the police won’t act on political issues…….go figure where you’d go for your holiday.
I think you are confusing the fact that the west did/does have an agenda against Mugabe and they also support democratic forces in the country (i.e MDC) so you think the MDC is compliant in the means used by the west. No. Just because a football teams’ fans stop the opposition’s bus enroute to the stadium, beat up the players and intimidate them doesn’t mean the football team are thugs.
Let’s admit our problems and move on to Zanu’s response to them.
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You are one sad sod.
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