Tony Blair donates book cash to injured soldier charity

[Woody1985]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10988478

Hypocrite/guilty concious or a good gesture.

I'd suggest the former.

[steakbake]

Blood on his hands. Wracked with guilt - or he should be.

That said, he hardly needs the money. I'd go so far to say it's a publicity stunt.

[lyonhibs]

Blood on his hands. Wracked with guilt - or he should be.

That said, he hardly needs the money. I'd go so far to say it's a publicity stunt.

Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.

Imagine the uproar and gnashing of teeth if he'd written the book and kept the millions.

I seriously doubt the charity that benefits from this will look on the donation as being "dirty money"

[Pretty Boy]

Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.

Imagine the uproar and gnashing of teeth if he'd written the book and kept the millions.

I seriously doubt the charity that benefits from this will look on the donation as being "dirty money"

:agree:

I'm no fan of Tony Blair or ihs foreign policies but at the end of the day he's given a substantial ammount of money to a worthy charity. Imagine the crticism if he hadn't.

As you say the charity in question will more than likely just be grateful for the cash.

[Hibs Class]

Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.

Imagine the uproar and gnashing of teeth if he'd written the book and kept the millions.

I seriously doubt the charity that benefits from this will look on the donation as being "dirty money"


:agree: The most important thing here is the outcome, i.e. that the charity will receive several million pounds. He'll be well aware that doing this will lead to the criticism he's already receiving.

[Woody1985]

Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.

Imagine the uproar and gnashing of teeth if he'd written the book and kept the millions.

I seriously doubt the charity that benefits from this will look on the donation as being "dirty money"

Very true. Poor Blair, getting criticism for donating money to a charity that helps those very people that he sent to an illegal war. Boohoo.

Perhaps the charity will be grateful but I think they ONLY people who should be able to judge if this is a good thing is those that are being taken care of at the centre.

I'd suggest that there are a lot of stubborn and angry men that have gone to and receive charity that won't be too happy about him trying to clear his concious and/or trying to repair his PR image. As I say, I'm not really sure on what their thoughts will be.

[bighairyfaeleith]

Lot of fuss about nothing, blair is a politician so you ken he is slimy so and so, but never the less the charity is getting £5million, in anyones books thats good.

I would suggest it might have been better for him to donate the money quietly however, doing it publicly serves very little purpose.

[lyonhibs]

i imagine it would be nigh on impossible for TB to donate that sum, and for that donation to have remained a secret.
Someone wud have blabbed/found out, then inevitably Blair would hav got roasted from some parties for doing it quietly in an attempt to avoid the 'blood money' style publicity that was always coming his way, sooner or later

[Hibbyradge]

What an extremely generous thing to do.

I wonder how much all us mere mortals have donated to the Pakistan flood fund...

Hypocrisy is alive and well.

[CropleyWasGod]

What an extremely generous thing to do.

I wonder how much all us mere mortals have donated to the Pakistan flood fund...

Hypocrisy is alive and well.

£20:wink:

So nice up here on the moral high ground lol

Me and Tony the gither....:greengrin

[Woody1985]

What an extremely generous thing to do.

I wonder how much all us mere mortals have donated to the Pakistan flood fund...

Hypocrisy is alive and well.

How many of us are directly involved in causing flash floods? This is a different kettle of fish all togehter.

How much did you send to the recent mud slides that killed thousands in China?

If people donated to every charity going then we'd all have no money.

[steakbake]

Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.

Imagine the uproar and gnashing of teeth if he'd written the book and kept the millions.

I seriously doubt the charity that benefits from this will look on the donation as being "dirty money"

I think if he'd kept it, it'd have gone largely unnoticed.

I'd say that they should keep every single penny and make sure he signs for gift aid (if indeed, he's a UK taxpayer). That said, if you read the article there are one or two people whose children were killed in our Iraq misadventure who'd also suggest that it's nothing more than blood money to pay off his guilt. They're the ones who get to speak - there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions who would like to have their say.

You'll no doubt disagree, but as much as Blair and his supporters would surely like to, he cannot airbrush or pay his way out of being responsible for the single most disastrous and aggressive foreign policy decision the UK has made in modern times.

There's not much that I feel strongly about when it comes to politics, but when it comes to Blair and his wars, I see him quite simply as the war criminal ex-pm who has so far evaded international justice. His day will come.

[Leicester Fan]

No fan of Blair or Labour but this is a very generous gesture. No criticism of it from me.

[bighairyfaeleith]

I think if he'd kept it, it'd have gone largely unnoticed.

I'd say that they should keep every single penny and make sure he signs for gift aid (if indeed, he's a UK taxpayer). That said, if you read the article there are one or two people whose children were killed in our Iraq misadventure who'd also suggest that it's nothing more than blood money to pay off his guilt. They're the ones who get to speak - there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions who would like to have their say.

You'll no doubt disagree, but as much as Blair and his supporters would surely like to, he cannot airbrush or pay his way out of being responsible for the single most disastrous and aggressive foreign policy decision the UK has made in modern times.

There's not much that I feel strongly about when it comes to politics, but when it comes to Blair and his wars, I see him quite simply as the war criminal ex-pm who has so far evaded international justice. His day will come.

TBH i couldn't disagree with you more, the iraq war may have been misguided but I don't genuinely believe blair is some sort of war monger. The afghanistan war was inevitable after 9/11 and I 1005 supported it. I also supported the iraq war at the time, appreciate now it was a mistake but not sure I could have foreseen that at the time.

[Dashing Bob S]

Yes, £5 million brings a lot of people back from the dead, grows stacks of new limbs and cures a lot of post-combat traumatic stress.

The term 'guilty conscience' was the first thing that sprung to mind, but at least I'm gratified that he's obviously reflected on it, and its caused him some head-******ing.

Too little, too late, Tony.

[Future17]

How much has he donated to help the Iraqis who have been injured or the families of those killed?

[bighairyfaeleith]

How much has he donated to help the Iraqis who have been injured or the families of those killed?

How much did saddam donate to the kurds gased in northern iraq?
How much did the taliban/al quaida give to compensate the dead in 9/11 and 11/9

Not trying to down play the iraq war here, many people across many countries have suffered but I do thinks it's a bit more complicated than just saying it's all blairs fault.

[Beefster]

Very true. Poor Blair, getting criticism for donating money to a charity that helps those very people that he sent to an illegal war. Boohoo.

Perhaps the charity will be grateful but I think they ONLY people who should be able to judge if this is a good thing is those that are being taken care of at the centre.

I'd suggest that there are a lot of stubborn and angry men that have gone to and receive charity that won't be too happy about him trying to clear his concious and/or trying to repair his PR image. As I say, I'm not really sure on what their thoughts will be.

At the very least, the soldiers who served in Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, The Falklands and the first Gulf War will be happy about it. It's not only in the most recent Iraq war that soldiers have been killed/maimed.

[Future17]

How much did saddam donate to the kurds gased in northern iraq?
How much did the taliban/al quaida give to compensate the dead in 9/11 and 11/9

Not trying to down play the iraq war here, many people across many countries have suffered but I do thinks it's a bit more complicated than just saying it's all blairs fault.

I don't think anyone is saying it's all Blair's fault. However, countless Iraqis have died or been seriously injured as a result of an illegal war which Blair has blood on his hands for as a result of his endorsement of it.

[Woody1985]

At the very least, the soldiers who served in Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, The Falklands and the first Gulf War will be happy about it. It's not only in the most recent Iraq war that soldiers have been killed/maimed.

Very good point Beefster, I was thinking too narrow on the victims that use the charity.

I am sure many/all of those will be grateful.

[steakbake]

TBH i couldn't disagree with you more, the iraq war may have been misguided but I don't genuinely believe blair is some sort of war monger. The afghanistan war was inevitable after 9/11 and I 1005 supported it. I also supported the iraq war at the time, appreciate now it was a mistake but not sure I could have foreseen that at the time.

Nearly 2 million people turned up to march through London who thought it was a mistake at the time.

Robin Cook's resignation speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heWJuAPO9zw (part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ffbd-ZU380 (part 2)

Is there anything that he has said which doesn't make sense? This was all at the time of the decision, not with benefit of hindsight.

Not getting a 2nd amendment would probably have constitute a very obvious mistake at the time.

[bighairyfaeleith]

Nearly 2 million people turned up to march through London who thought it was a mistake at the time.

Robin Cook's resignation speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heWJuAPO9zw (part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ffbd-ZU380 (part 2)

Is there anything that he has said which doesn't make sense? This was all at the time of the decision, not with benefit of hindsight.

Not getting a 2nd amendment would probably have constitute a very obvious mistake at the time.

Not sure I get your point, whenever you go to war there will be people who think it right and who think it wrong. Are you saying the two million people knew there was no WMD, because thats the only reason that i now see the war as being wrong. If however we had found WMD i would have still backed the war.

[steakbake]

Not sure I get your point, whenever you go to war there will be people who think it right and who think it wrong. Are you saying the two million people knew there was no WMD, because thats the only reason that i now see the war as being wrong. If however we had found WMD i would have still backed the war.

Wasn't the whole basis for the war being the WMDs in the first place? The same WMDs that various groups of weapons inspectors had said didn't exist? What did Blair/Bush know that Hans Blix and the UN inspectors didn't? Not much, I'd say, and certainly nothing that was convenient to their agenda.

Anyhow, we're straying from the point of the thread, so this'll be my last post on it. We'll have to agree to disagree.

[Mibbes Aye]

Something that's always intrigued me - Blair espoused a policy of military intervention years before the invasion of Iraq, and before 9/11 in fact.

He engaged in an 'illegal' war with the Kosovo campaign in 1999. Innocent civilians were killed during that conflict. There was no UN resolution authorising our intervention.

Our intervention in Sierra Leone likewise, was without mandate and also preceded Iraq.

Why do those so quick to tar him as a war criminal on Iraq make no mention of Kosovo, or Sierra Leone?

Genuinely curious.

[bighairyfaeleith]

Something that's always intrigued me - Blair espoused a policy of military intervention years before the invasion of Iraq, and before 9/11 in fact.

He engaged in an 'illegal' war with the Kosovo campaign in 1999. Innocent civilians were killed during that conflict. There was no UN resolution authorising our intervention.

Our intervention in Sierra Leone likewise, was without mandate and also preceded Iraq.

Why do those so quick to tar him as a war criminal on Iraq make no mention of Kosovo, or Sierra Leone?

Genuinely curious.

Interestingly he was treated like a king on a recent visit to kosovo, seems that intervention worked.

[Woody1985]

Something that's always intrigued me - Blair espoused a policy of military intervention years before the invasion of Iraq, and before 9/11 in fact.

He engaged in an 'illegal' war with the Kosovo campaign in 1999. Innocent civilians were killed during that conflict. There was no UN resolution authorising our intervention.

Our intervention in Sierra Leone likewise, was without mandate and also preceded Iraq.

Why do those so quick to tar him as a war criminal on Iraq make no mention of Kosovo, or Sierra Leone?

Genuinely curious.

From a personal point of view, I was 13 in 1999 and had no interest in politics, war or Tony Blair at that time. However, I do recall the build up to the Iraq war and watching the bombing on TV live when they started to hit Baghdad and thinking that it didn't quite seem real because all you could see was the skyline through night vision. I was sort of thinking that all those areas would have been empty as people would have already fled.

Now, as I get older and take more of an interest and have a better understanding of human nature, slimy politicians, hidden agendas etc etc then it becomes clear that TB is just a c***. He even had the cheek to join the middle eastern peace envoy. And to think that these type of knob jockeys (right or left), are going to represent the country and I for the rest of my life makes my skin crawl. They're so full of **** it's unreal.

[Dashing Bob S]

From a personal point of view, I was 13 in 1999 and had no interest in politics, war or Tony Blair at that time. However, I do recall the build up to the Iraq war and watching the bombing on TV live when they started to hit Baghdad and thinking that it didn't quite seem real because all you could see was the skyline through night vision. I was sort of thinking that all those areas would have been empty as people would have already fled.

Now, as I get older and take more of an interest and have a better understanding of human nature, slimy politicians, hidden agendas etc etc then it becomes clear that TB is just a c***. He even had the cheek to join the middle eastern peace envoy. And to think that these type of knob jockeys (right or left), are going to represent the country and I for the rest of my life makes my skin crawl. They're so full of **** it's unreal.

Amen to all that.

[New Corrie]

Very generous, it looks a pretty hard job that PM malarky, although plenty know alls seem to think that they could do have done a better job of it than him. He made mistakes, but of course the resident know alls have never made mistakes. He did the job to the best of his abilities and made very hard decisions for what he thought were for the right reasons. He gives £5 mil to a wonderful project then gets slaughtered for it.:grr:

We really do have some amazing people on here, never made mistakes, never laughed at racist jokes, would never sign for one of the OF for shedloads of money etc etc....

[lyonhibs]

Very generous, it looks a pretty hard job that PM malarky, although plenty know alls seem to think that they could do have done a better job of it than him. He made mistakes, but of course the resident know alls have never made mistakes. He did the job to the best of his abilities and made very hard decisions for what he thought were for the right reasons. He gives £5 mil to a wonderful project then gets slaughtered for it.:grr:

We really do have some amazing people on here, never made mistakes, never laughed at racist jokes, would never sign for one of the OF for shedloads of money etc etc....

I'm slightly confused by CG staunch support of a Labour PM :greengrin but agree entirely with the sentiment above.

I'm relatively sure the complex world of domestic and international politics cannot be accurately summarised in the snappy one-liner "ach, they are all just *****"