Blair: More 'soft power' - deconstruct Lebanon first

Times - Tony Blair is tonight calling for a total rethink of the approach to the Middle East in a speech which admits that military action in Iraq and Afghanistan had alienated moderate Muslims and undermined the War on Terror.

The Prime Minister, seeming to break from the tough stance adopted with President Bush four days ago, said that the wider problem of extremism would never be conquered unless there was a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

As soon as conflict in Lebanon ends, all efforts had to be focused on resolving that dispute, Mr Blair believes.

His plea for the use of more "soft power" was immediately interpreted as a rebuke to Mr Bush for failing to fully engage in the Middle East peace process, despite repeated claims that it was a priority for his administration, as well as an acknowledgement of the deep concerns over his tactics in his own party. Read more

db: Blair's plea for more "soft power" is an obscenity. "As soon as conflict in the Lebanon ends" - his policy of unquestioning support for the US and consequently Israel has brought about a situation whereby all bets are off as to when it might 'end' because we are currently in a state of contrived deadlock - Israel will not participate in a ceasefire until an 'International force' is in place to execute its policies - and the countries debating whether to take part in such a mission [impossible] would not seriously consider it whilst the fighting continues. Meanwhile we are seeing a full scale invasion of Southern Lebanon and an expected resumption of indiscriminate air strikes within an hour or two.

The Labour Party needs to rid the country of this dangerous man - and not wait until 2007 to do it - by which time he could have us in wars with both Iran and Syria.