Try, try again:
Former prime minister Tony Blair on Sunday said it was possible the fight against Islamic State (Isis) fighters in northern Iraq and Syria could “evolve over time” and therefore involve the use of “combat force”. […]
He added: “You certainly need to fight groups like Isis on the ground, it’s certainly possible that those people there locally can carry on the offensive against them. This will evolve over time I’m sure.”
Dear Tony Blair, why on God’s green earth would anyone listen to you about sending combat troops to fight again in Iraq and (bonus country) Syria? Because that worked out so well for you last time? And why in the heck would any news organization continue to treat Blair, Cheney and other former Neocons as very serious people whose views on war in the Middle East should be reported as if their experience and expertise uniquely qualifies them to be consulted or have their remarks covered?
Yes, those were rhetorical questions.
Despite the utter failure of these warmongers and international criminals for atrocities, torture and other violations of International Law, which they ordered, permitted or covered up during the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq (and lied about to garner political and public support), the traditional corporate media in the United States and apparently the UK still covers these people as if they know what they are talking about, despite the utter failure of their war policy. One of those consequences of that failure is ISIS itself, a group to which our own ‘ally’ in the region, Saudi Arabia provided arms and financial support.
The problems of the Middle East cannot be solved through military intervention by American and European forces. Mr. Blair, you and President Bush, and your respective governments, already proved that point once before. Your war cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, and damaged the lives of millions of others, both in the Iraq and among the troops who served in Iraq, and the families of those who died or now live with the damages done to the bodies and minds of their loved ones. It cost us hundreds of billions of dollars (some say over a Trillion dollars) and all we got was more chaos, death and destruction, and less national security.
So to Tony Blair, pardon my vulgarity, but just STFU. And that goes for Dick Cheney, John McCain, and any of the other politicians, pundits and neocon idiots who never stop their cries for more war in the Middle East regardless of the human, political and financial cost.
Maybe, Steve, the British MSM is like ours, in that it leans to the right – far right.
So, no matter how badly someone is discredited, he/she is still a “get” for the news shows, because their faces and voices are familiar.
Btw – I’ve read estimates that by the time the last Afghanistan/Iraq war veteran dies, we will have spent 3 Trillion – maybe even 5 Trillion.
We could rebuild the entire infrastructure in America for less than that.
Guess I musta just missed the part where Cheney and the War Criminals (now THERE’s a rock band name just waiting for a band to claim it!) recanted and denounced their immoral, criminal ideology, and described the means by which they had rehabilitated themselves.
Also, too:
Afraid that’s low-balled, Big Time. Pretty sure a single trillion would only cover direct Congressional appropriations. Realistic accounting of all costs (including things like lifetime care of permanently disabled veterans, long-term treatment of PTSD, TBI, lost lifetime productivity, etc.; guessing also off-budget stuff like CIA activities, though of course I do not have the security clearance to know that bit for sure) extends easily into $2-3T (if not indeed $3-4T) range.
hahahaha
You got me. Mea culpa.