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Whack! Take that Tony!

"The prospect of a vote on statehood for Palestine in the U.N. is reinvigorating multi-lateral Middle East diplomacy. However, there remain considerable complications -- notably, Tony Blair. Barely pausing from sending Tornado F3's to release Shadow missiles over Iraq, Blair blithely glided into the position of Mid-East Peace envoy for the Quartet in 2007, without betraying a hint of irony. His stoicism and blinking affability have incongruously led to his recent label of persona non grata in the West Bank and Gaza.

    Blair doesn’t seem to notice that he has been lobbying against a vote for Palestine in the U.N. these past few weeks. Just as he hasn’t seemed to notice that, rather than tour the Middle East with credible experts and peace brokers, he has been seated across from power with the J.P. Morgan representative at his elbow. The same J.P. Morgan that has been footing a bill of £2 million in consultancy fees to Mr. Blair. To call this a conflict of interest would be an understatement. Correspondingly, a commission has been struck in the British Parliament to investigate Blair’s use of Quartet Peace envoy letterhead to cut business deals for J.P. Morgan throughout his tenure.

    But this behavior isn’t altogether novel. After all, Mr. Blair’s eternal sunshine of the spotless mind allows him to partner with a messianic American President employing crusader rhetoric against the 'Muslim world' in the second Gulf War, only to subsequently found a faith foundation aimed at fostering religious tolerance and coexistence. Nevertheless, outright denials have recently been issued by Mr. Blair, although the detailed investigations conducted by London’s pugnacious tabloid journals have yielded scant berth for an alternate narrative. In the meantime, Palestinians have not halted their attempts to broker support for their admission to the U.N. as a full member state. Recently, Mahmoud Abbas traveled to Columbia, temporary member of the U.N. Security Council, in order to lobby for a yes vote."









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