"Having helped destroy other nations far away, our former prime minister — “peace envoy” to the Middle East — is now free to profit from the useful contacts he made while working as a “servant of the people.
Tony Blair must be prosecuted, not indulged like Peter Mandelson. Both have produced self-serving memoirs for which they have been paid fortunes; Blair's, which have earned him a £4.6m advance, will appear next month.
Now consider the Proceeds of Crime Act. Blair conspired in and executed an unprovoked war of aggression against a defenceless country, of a kind the Nuremberg judges in 1946 described as the "paramount war crime". This has caused, according to scholarly studies, the deaths of more than a million people, a figure that exceeds the Fordham University estimate of deaths in the Rwandan genocide.”"
Friday, August 06, 2010
Blair must be arrested by John Pilger
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Arrest Tony Blair for Crimes Against Peace
It is essential that they are pursued peacefully and calmly, not least for your own safety: at no point should you create the impression that you mean to harm him, or you could be harmed yourself. The method we recommend is calmly to approach Mr Blair and in a gentle fashion to lay a hand on his shoulder or elbow, in such a way that he cannot have any cause to complain of being hurt or trapped by you, and announce loudly, “Mr Blair, this is a citizens’ arrest for a crime against peace, namely your decision to launch an unprovoked war against Iraq. I am inviting you to accompany me to a police station to answer the charge.”
If any police officers are accompanying Mr Blair, you should explain the charge to them, and encourage them to support you by arresting him.
You are advised not to put yourself at risk of charges of assault or false imprisonment. In other words, do not cling onto Blair or attempt to drag him anywhere.
You are unlikely to get much further than that. But as long as the attempt is picked up by the media, the point will have been made: he is a war criminal who can expect to be pursued for his crime wherever he goes.
You should decide how you want to leave the situation after your attempt. Blair or the people accompanying him might wish to argue with you if the arrest takes place in the media spotlight, so before attempting it you should have a good grasp of the case against him, be aware of the likely counter-arguments, and prepare some responses.
You might also wish to contact the media either before – if you know and trust a journalist – you attempt the arrest or immediately afterwards. It’s a good idea to prepare a press release (and a list of email addresses of relevant news desks) beforehand, for a friend to send out as soon as it’s happened.
The chances of getting Blair officially arrested or prosecuted in most nations are currently slim. But like most non-violent direct action, the main purpose here is to create an event which alerts people to an uncomfortable truth, changes the public mood and puts pressure on governments.
Good luck.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Tony Blair receives the 2010 Louis Vuitton Middle East peace prize
Tony Blair receives the 2010 Louis Vuitton Middle East peace prize, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.
Remember kids, propaganda begins at home.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Tony Blair set to sign contract with Louis Vuitton
Tony Blair - The man, the politician, the fashion icon, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.
"At last we have found Tony Blair's core principles, his true beliefs, the real third way. It is handbags. He is in the final stages of negotiating a job with Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessey. It not so much a corporation as a posh-brand pile-up on Millionaire's Row. Louis Vuitton is a shop that sells dog bags for £1,260 (breathable mesh window is included)."
Friday, June 19, 2009
UK MPs: "We're not paid enough"
"MPs were accused yesterday of a massive cover-up of their expenses after the Commons authorities released hundreds of thousands of claims documents and receipts with huge sections of detail blacked out.
Amid renewed public anger over the scale of Westminster's spending habits, the documents contained enough fresh information to create new embarrassment for senior politicians.
David Cameron was forced to pay back an extra £947, the shadow chancellor, George Osborne, was reported to the parliamentary commissioner for standards and Gordon Brown was revealed to have charged the taxpayer almost £6,500 to green his second home in Scotland.
Even Tony Blair found himself under the spotlight after the documents revealed that he had claimed almost £7,000 for roof repairs two days before leaving office and standing down as an MP.
With MPs reeling from public anger at the extent of their claims, Bill Cockburn, the chairman of the body responsible for setting their pay, chose yesterday to suggest that MPs deserve a pay rise of up to £10,000 a year, arguing that they were underpaid by 10-15%.
It was also disclosed that 184 MPs – over a third of the Commons – have agreed to pay back nearly £478,000 in inappropriate claims, including Brown and ministers Douglas Alexander, Alistair Darling, Yvette Cooper, David Miliband, Ed Balls, Rosie Winterton, Andy Burnham and the former home secretary Jacqui Smith."
Blair's detention on route to the EU conference on Middle East Security and Safety in Zurich severely strained UK – Dutch relations with some Conservative members of parliament even calling for the air strikes on military targets within the country if the former leader was not released. In the days that followed hundreds of businesses and organisations with ties with the Netherlands were attacked throughout America with three Dutch citizens losing their lives in bomb attack on the country's London embassy
Not surprisingly, it has been the question of the sense and the legitimacy of the trials that is the center of attention for many eyewitnesses. Despite the lack of a legal precedent, most of them approve of the proceedings because, as U.S. writer Gore Vidal put it, "warmongers will no longer be able to live quietly in retirement." Some observers, however, have remained skeptical. Iraqi writer Salah Wali considered the indictment "bizarre" and British diplomats in Brussels have privately admitted that the British didn't "enter the war with clean hands. No nation could have done so."
The defendant, who await the world's judgment in varying postures of resentment, resignation, and revolt, is another focus for most members of the press. "While the counsel for the prosecution reads UK documents about the killing of Iraqis and Afghans," railed Polish reporter Pawel Osmanczyk, enraged by the prisoner's deliberate display of boredom, "Blair yawns, or just pretends to be asleep."
Fascination for and disappointment about the banality of the man who helped in the possible murder of thousands of people also appear in the accounts of the reporters witnessing the proceedings. "Involuntarily one desires to see a greater man," wrote Australian journalist John Pliger, "who have to stand trial for all the cruelties which are spread out before the court." Afghan opposition leader, Abdullah Abdullah remarked incredulously: "He is so insignificant that you ask yourself: Was it really this degenerate who laid my country to waste... ?"
Read more: www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,174037,00.html#ixz...