Thursday 18th of April 2024

"aussie tony" & the value of chutzpah .....

"aussie tony" & the value of chutzpah .....

Tony Blair has been holding discussions with some of his oldest allies on how he could mount a campaign later this year to become full-time president of the EU council, the prestigious new job characterised as "president of Europe".  

Blair, currently the Middle East envoy for the US, Russia, EU and the UN, has told friends he has made no final decision, but is increasingly willing to put
himself forward for the job if it comes with real powers to intervene in defence and trade affairs. 

I'll Be President Of Europe If You Give Me The Power

on a lie

Blair went to war on a lie, law lords told

By Nigel Morris, Home Affairs Correspondent
Tuesday, 12 February 2008

The mothers of two teenage soldiers killed in Iraq accused Tony Blair's government of going to war "on a lie" as they took their fight for a public inquiry into the conflict to the House of Lords.

Beverly Clarke and Rose Gentle argue that ministers breached their duty to Britain's armed forces by failing to ensure the invasion was lawful.

Trooper David Clarke, from Littleworth, Staffordshire, was killed by "friendly fire" near Basra in 2003, while Fusilier Gordon Gentle, from Glasgow, died in a roadside bomb attack in Basra in 2004. Both were 19.

The law lords yesterday began considering the mothers' argument that servicemen and women have the right not to have their lives jeopardised in illegal conflicts.

Rabinder Singh QC, who is representing the women, told the court: "That duty is owed to soldiers who are under the unique compulsory control of the state and have to obey orders. They have to put their lives in harm's way if necessary because their country demands it."

Mr Singh said the overwhelming body of legal advice received by the Government was that the invasion would not be lawful without a second UN Security Council resolution.

more from Napoleon...

Stop Blair: ambition to lead Europe hits fierce opposition

EU track record and Iraq seen as obstacles to getting new post of president

This article appeared in the Guardian on Wednesday February 20 2008

Tony Blair's hopes of becoming Europe's first president are running into mounting opposition across the EU, with Germany determined to stymie the former prime minister.

A "Stop Blair" website run by pro-Europeans has launched a petition against him; a transnational, cross-party caucus in the European parliament is forming to campaign against a Blair presidency; senior officials in Brussels are privately dismissive about the new post going to a Briton; and senior diplomats in European capitals also doubt that Blair is the right person for the post being created under Europe's new reform treaty.

"There was surprise in Berlin when Blair's name came up so soon," said a European ambassador. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany admires Blair and has "great personal sympathy for Tony", he added.

"But more generally the German political elite would be puzzled by the idea of Tony Blair. His track record on EU matters is not so great. There is unease about a Briton at the top in that job. And then personally with Blair, there's the Iraq thing."

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Gus: and they forgot to mention the Pound... A sidedish currency that is still gnawing at the proper supremacy of the Euro against the US dollar...

 See toon at top 

professor napoleon

Professor Blair: former British PM heads for Yale

Former British prime minister Tony Blair is to take up a post teaching at Yale, one of the top educational institutions in the United States, the university said.

Mr Blair, who stepped down as prime minister last year after 10 years in power, will lecture on faith and globalisation as the Howland Distinguished Fellow, and will start in the next academic year, the university said.

His work at the university would relate to the work of his Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which he is due to launch later this year. Blair is known as an observant Christian and converted to Roman Catholicism last year.

"The appointment of Mr Blair provides a tremendous opportunity for our students and our community," Yale president Richard Levin said in a statement.

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Gus: Subject taught by prof Napoleon:

- how to kill someone, preferably a lot of someone, without contradicting the commandments that forbid killing.

- creating the illusion of peace with war — the Christian crusade and the modern Templars of Whitehall.

- brown-nosing with the son of the trinity: Bush, Bush and Cheney

- Lying copiously to save the Christian world.  

- Maintain a deluded faith despite obvious contradictions

- globalisation with boots and all

- how to pay holy bribes into blessed Swiss bank accounts

- how to switch religion and claim to still be of the other till one resigns from public office

- how to sex up without showing a bulge in your dossiers. 

non, nope, nein...

Sarkozy 'non' to Blair presidency

Nicolas Sarkozy has withdrawn his backing of Tony Blair to become the first president of the European Union, senior sources have told the BBC.

The French president is understood to have changed his mind after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

It is thought he feels EU opposition to the former UK prime minister is too strong because he backed the Iraq war.

The president will be chosen by leaders of EU member states. The post was created under the new EU reform treaty,

The sources close to the president also indicated that Mr Sarkozy felt Mr Blair was not right for the role because Britain has failed to adopt the European single currency and the Schengen zone of passport-free travel.

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see toon at top and blogs below at your leasure...