Barefaced Blair says “force is necessary” in fight against “radical Islam”

[acid rain]

He does have a point. After all, isn't the Pak Army using lethal force against radical Islam in FATA right now?

Same is true for Bangladesh and Egypt too.

 

[syedali73]

Tony Blair says “force is necessary” in fight against “radical Islam”

Tony Blair has called for a US-led effort to confront the “substantial minority” of Muslims who support terrorism, during a meeting with top Republicans that reunited the former British prime minister with hawks in the party who believe the White House response to recent attacks has been too limited.

According to a source present at a closed-door strategy session attended by nearly 300 Republican senators and congressmen, the former prime minister argued that force would be needed in what he called a “generational” struggle, but more important would be a “global alliance to teach tolerance” as millions of people in the Muslim world are systematically being taught to be intolerant.

Blair, who was introduced by Senator John McCain, also reportedly argued that radical Islam and the terrorism associated with it had not been contained; that countries in the west “didn’t cause it but were caught up in it”; that it was neither isolated nor insignificant and that while the majority of Muslims opposed it, “a substantial and not a fringe minority” supported it.

A spokeswoman for Blair’s private office confirmed to the Guardian that he spoke about the “Middle East peace process, as well as issues relating to the wider region” in his capacity as representative of the Middle East quartet, which represents the United Nations, US, European Union and Russia. She declined to give any further information on the contents of his speech, which was not open to reporters.

An estimated 300 congressional staff members were also present at the meeting, which greeted Blair with standing ovations after he was introduced, at the conclusion of his remarks and after a brief question-and-answer session. There was also frequent applause as he spoke, according to those present.

The meeting came hours before the current UK prime minister, David Cameron, was due to hold talks with Barack Obama over dinner at the White House. The two leaders were expected to discuss the west’s response to recent attacks such as the shooting of journalists and hostages in Paris last week.
Blair appeared to have struck a more confrontational tone, arguing that a variety of factors contributed to radical Islam, but at root it was a struggle within Islam about the nature of the faith and its relationship with other religious communities.

According to the witness, Blair said radical Islam was a perverted ideology that justified the use of force against those of other religions or Muslims who interpreted their faith differently. It was hostile to “us and our values”, he claimed, and though some want to negotiate with it or ignore it, neither of those approaches would work and it had to be confronted.

The former prime minister also talked about the lessons of the post-9/11 era. He reportedly argued that the US and UK had learned that if you topple dictators, you release other forces that have to be dealt with. However, the Arab Spring demonstrated that many of those dictatorships would be swept away in any event.

It was hard to be successful “unless you had allies within Islam itself”, he reportedly said, adding that the Middle East would continue to evolve away from what it is and that unless extremism was fought it would continue to grow. He was said to be “extremely concerned” about the emergence of the Islamic State (Isis) in Syria and Iraq.

Nonetheless, the former prime minister was said be hopeful about the prospect of building further alliances in the Middle East, arguing that many Islamic leaders in recent years had come to understand that they too were the targets of radical Islam. He even thought that over time there could be an alliance of sorts between Israel and the Arab states against radical Islam.

But he concluded that America would have to play a leading role in what he thought would be a “generational” struggle and urged the Republicans present not to disengage and to rise to the task and recognise it was “our problem as well as theirs”.

Blair’s office said he was not paid to speak at the Republican lunch, which was held in Hershey, Pennsylvania, but received travel expenses.

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[gambit]

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Yup...One of them is dead. Hung by his own people. The other is comfortably retired in the US.

 

[duhastmish]

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That was probably the worst decision by Americans to go for democrats.

I think Bush worked in American interests. But a bunch of secular and human right self proclaimed activists started propaganda.

Any ways bush is more than happy at home. Having his fav bourbon and big juicy steak. He achieved most of what he aimed for and Americans most republicans still love him he doesn't give a rat arse about you or your people.

 

[syedali73]

Yup...One of them is dead. Hung by his own people. The other is comfortably retired in the US.

... he doesn't give a rat arse about you or your people.

Even Colin Powell admitted his mistake in these words:

"a blot, a failure will always be attached to me."

... but shamelessness from certain "more loyal than the king" -types on this forum is amazing.

 

[livingdead]

blair was instrumental in military campaign in europe which saved lot of muslim lives. Iraq was a disaster (for sunnis, it was godsend for shias)

 

[jamahir]

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classic...

Yup...One of them is dead. Hung by his own people.

no doubt, president najibullah, last president of independent afghanistan was also "hung by his own people"... the glorious taliban... with a little help from usa government.

how brainwashed can you be...

 

[Sine Nomine]

Unfortunately...there assessment are wrong..the person to whom they are looking for are not in caves..rather in a posh city inside Pakistan...and of course..they caught him and killed him..

And after that extremism in all countries collapsed like a person who gets a head shot it was nothing just slap on Pak face and meanwhile face saving for USA.

 

[Foggy_Bottom]

Sure, whatever. The guy saying it should be tried for his role in the killing of innocent Iraqis, in a war declared under false pretences and in complete defiance of public pressure and popular opinion. The same man that led us into a hornet's nest, shook it up to the best of his ability, and then ran with his tail between his legs, abandoning all the shiny new equipment, only for bigger monsters than Saddam to take their place.

This is where you lose every time in pretending that you care about civilians. It's a huge hole in that 'concern" you seem to portray and can't explain away.

You ONLY seem to be worried about civilian deaths when non muslims are behind it, but we never hear or heard a word about the muslim dictator Saddam killing his people, gassed his people by numbers estimate near a million or more.

We don't hear from you saying "wait a minute- the U.S got rid of a genocidal maniac- murderer of women, children and civilians in his own country. Although the evidence of WMD was wrong, the evidence of him having killed and continue to kill his people nearing a million or more was NOT wrong! "

If Nazi germany was actually lead by a muslim man and not Hitler. You would be cursing at the allied invasion to get rid of him, which had higher casualties.

That would tell us that you really don't care about civilians, rather are more focused about an anti-west bias. Look at the post you are replying to as proof of where your priorities lie. Who is their right mind would say that military action is also not needed to kill fundamental jihadist? You are doing so right now in Pakistan too & through your military!

Somehow you think innocent civilians only get killed in western wars and never when say your army is going after the terrorists by bombing infrastructure, buildings, village and homes filled with civilians too.

More Iraqi civilians were killed by fellow muslims and by a ratio close to 8-10X

 

[jamahir]

but we never hear or heard a word about the muslim dictator Saddam killing his people

why not the recent version... "oh, gaddafi and assad are killing civilians, including women and children".

by the way, our syrian christian member, syrian lion, adores the syrian army which is majority sunni muslim.

 

[livingdead]

why not the recent version... "oh, gaddafi and assad are killing civilians, including women and children".

by the way, our syrian christian member, syrian lion, adores the syrian army which is majority sunni muslim.

depends on which side you are.. syrian lion is christian, its a matter of life and death for him. Assad is generally secular, he has to be as he is from minority sect.
But yes, assad did kill many civilians, mostly sunnis.

 

[Jungibaaz]

This is where you lose every time in pretending that you care about civilians. It's a huge hole in that 'concern" you seem to portray and can't explain away.

You ONLY seem to be worried about civilian deaths when non muslims are behind it, but we never hear or heard a word about the muslim dictator Saddam killing his people, gassed his people by numbers estimate near a million or more.

We don't hear from you saying "wait a minute- the U.S got rid of a genocidal maniac- murderer of women, children and civilians in his own country. Although the evidence of WMD was wrong, the evidence of him having killed and continue to kill his people nearing a million or more was NOT wrong! "

If Nazi germany was actually lead by a muslim man and not Hitler. You would be cursing at the allied invasion to get rid of him, which had higher casualties.

That would tell us that you really don't care about civilians, rather are more focused about an anti-west bias. Look at the post you are replying to as proof of where your priorities lie. Who is their right mind would say that military action is also not needed to kill fundamental jihadist? You are doing so right now in Pakistan too & through your military!

Somehow you think innocent civilians only get killed in western wars and never when say your army is going after the terrorists by bombing infrastructure, buildings, village and homes filled with civilians too.

More Iraqi civilians were killed by fellow muslims and by a ratio close to 8-10X

Right, I've got something to do in a moment. But later today, I will unleash the most unholy rant on you.

Wait for it sunshine.

 

[jamahir]

Assad is generally secular, he has to be as he is from minority sect.

not "secular" in the western sense... bashar al-assad is regional secretary for syria region in the arab baath socialist movement... different meaning.

his wife is sunni... the syrian army is mostly sunni... syrian people are mostly sunni... syrian military command has many sunni... and so on.

why do syrian people chant "allah, sooriya, bashar oo bas"... which chant by the way is derived from "allah muammar libya bas", both from 2011.

depends on which side you are.. syrian lion is christian, its a matter of life and death for him.

so why can't he detach himself and his family from syria and move permanently to usa ( where he is now )... or any west european nation... at least lebanon.

this is the fourth year of the syrian war... i greatly respect the love that syrian lion has towards the independent syria, and the hatred he has for the western bloc conspiracy.

But yes, assad did kill many civilians, mostly sunnis.

the syrian military also fought the ikhwaan criminals in the 80's... ikhwaan seemed especially entrenched in the city of hama, and one time in that fight is called by the western governments/media as "hama massacre".

if the ikhwaan can be called "civilian", then i say may the syrian army kill every civilian.

but let us not get into that circular argument.

 

[livingdead]

not "secular" in the western sense... bashar al-assad is regional secretary for syria region in the arab baath socialist party... different meaning.

his wife is sunni... the syrian army is mostly sunni... syrian people are mostly sunni... syrian military command has many sunni... and so on.

why do syrian people chant "allah, sooriya, bashar oo bas"... which chant by the way is derived from "allah muammar libya bas", both from 2011.



so why can't he detach himself and his family from syria and move permanently to usa ( where he is now )... or any west european nation... at least lebanon.

this is the fourth year of the syrian war... i greatly respect the love that syrian lion has towards the independent syria, and the hatred he has for the western bloc conspiracy.



the syrian military also fought the ikhwaan criminals in the 80's... ikhwaan seemed especially entrenched in the city of hama, and one time in that fight is called by the western governments/media as "hama massacre".

if the ikhwaan can be called "civilian", then i say may the syrian army kill every civilian.

but let us not get into that circular argument.

I was pointing that syria is sharply divided, and syrian lion cannot be the only voice they way you potrayed. And yes, assad is a dictator and sunni majority is not exactly happy at the situation.
however they have no alternative. The election is a farse.

 

[Foggy_Bottom]

.

Right, I've got something to do in a moment. But later today, I will unleash the most unholy rant on you.

Wait for it sunshine.

Welcome it and hope to see some change from rants to reading objective reasoning behind your concerns. You can choose to be on topic and tell us why you dislike what Mr. Blair said.

Or we can discuss Iraq. Your choice.

I'm a willing participant in the debate.