<<back

THE fifth estate: ACT OF FAITH
A British Statesman> Printer Version

Broadcast April 10th, 2003

A BRITISH STATESMAN

Tony Blair was crucified by the British press for his alliance with the Americans.

A Popular Politician
Tony Blair, Britain's socialist Prime Minister and a champion of international consensus was one of the most popular politicians in Britain.

His alliance with American President George W. Bush is one of the great political mysteries of recent history. As the war with Iraq began it nearly cost him the affection of his people and the solidarity of his party. 139 of his own MP's voted against his call to war and three of his minister's resigned. (read more about the coalition)

An Unpopular Decision
Graham Allan, a Labour MP helped lead the mutiny against Blair.

"This just makes no sense in terms of the objectives that we have in our foreign policy. We’re going to create more terrorists, we’re going to undermine the alliances that we have, we’re going to devalue the United Nations. We’re going to split our own prime minister from his party, his parliament and his people."

In the weeks prior to the war, Tony Blair seemed oblivious to public or party opposition.

"Another side of Tony Blair, which certainly in his first term in Government tended to be very subordinate, 'Tony the Timid'. And now there’s 'Blair the Bold'... We occasionally saw 'Blair the Bold' in expression in the first term, but not that often. This is a man who, when he discovers what he believes in, when he finds a cause, he’s really committed to, goes at it with a courage many would say recklessness."

The British Response
But this time Tony Blair had a crisis on his hands. He encountered withering disapproval by the British media. His traditional supporters, the homemakers, the blue-collar socialists, and the urban commuters deserted him in droves.

He found enthusiastic approval in an unlikely quarter; the Tory establishment. Margaret Thatcher's former foreign policy advisor, Lord Charles Powell of Bayswater says that Blair didn't blindly follow the American agenda as others have suggested.

"Tony Blair has from the beginning acted as he saw right, what he thought best from the point of view of British interests. I think Tony Blair, like previous British governments, has been at the heart of the conflict with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq from the beginning. After all, which country contributed most in 1991 after the United States? It was Britain."

But in 1991, the previous British government had the support of the UN and the British people. The troops fighting in Operation Desert Storm knew that Iraq was the aggressor and that they were in a legal war to liberate Kuwait.

Consequences of a Perilous Gamble
Tony Blair gambled that the American government could be influenced and that the U.N. would back a war against Iraq. He was wrong on both counts. (read more about the U.S. Road to War)

Journalist Andrew Rawnsley believes that Tony Blair may have been used by the Americans.

"Now the question Tony Blair will have to ask himself is whether in the end he was always played for a sucker, that the United States were quite happy to go along the United Nations route because they quite weren’t ready to launch military action against Saddam Hussein. They would give him the months but they were months they needed anyway to build up their forces in the Gulf."

At the very least, former U.N. Ambassador, Sir Crispin Tickell says Tony Blair may not have made a wise decision.

Sir Crispin Tickell: "The Americans were already set on a course of action, and they didn’t really want to do anything except enlist international opinion to their support, they weren’t actually in a listening mode. But obviously it was the British Prime Minister’s view was different and he believed that Bush would listen."
the fifth estate: WAS THE BRITISH PRIME MINISTER FOOLHARDY, OVERLY OPTIMISTIC, OR TRYING TO DO THE RIGHT THING?
Sir Crispin Tickell: "I’m sure he was trying to do the right thing, I mean he’s a man of transparent integrity. Whether he was wise in trying to do the right thing, is another matter."

TOP

CBC: the fifth estate - Act of Faith
Broadcast April 10, 2003 on CBC-TV

A British Statesman - The U.S. Road to War - An Extraordinary Coalition
Documents & Resources
Web Site Credits

Terms of Use | Privacy | Copyright | Other Policies
Copyright © CBC 2003