“In possibly the most stinging rebuke ever to a British government by its foreign policy establishment, 52 former ambassadors and international officials have written to Tony Blair telling him he is damaging UK (and western) interests by backing George W. Bush’s misguided policies in the Middle East. It would be comforting to imagine that their comments will be heeded.”(Source Financial Times)

Good quote, innit? Taken from that filthy communist publication, The Financial Times. First The Torygraph publishes an account of a British Army officer calling the US military Nazis and now the FT puts the boot in.

Who has Blair got left on his side?

Apart from the FT running it, this attack is also important because of the nature of the attackers. These aren’t idealistic, lefty kids. These people are all professional diplomats. Think about that. These people have been at the very peak of their profession, a profession that relies on tact, non-confrontational approaches and a solid grasp of international relations.

These are the people condemning Blair for his poodleism.

“The organisers of this most undiplomatic d?marche are, moreover, Atlanticists. Yet, in essence, what they are telling Mr Blair is: if you really have influence with the Bush administration, now is the time to use it. If that proves “unacceptable or unwelcome” in Washington, they write, “there is no case for supporting policies which are doomed to failure”. (Source Financial Times)

Put more simply, “Try growing a fucking backbone, Tony.”

My wife pointed out an even more worrying aspect to this story. These diplomats aren’t anti-establishment. In fact, they’re probably as establishment as you can get.

So how terrible must the situation be in terms of international relations for them to break ranks and attack Blair in such a public manner?

And according to Robin Cook, their views are also held by current serving ambassadors:

Mr Cook, writing in The Independent, says it is inconceivable that agreement on a common text could have been reached among the former diplomats “without widespread sympathy for their views among the ambassadors who have replaced them”.

Underlining the unprecedented importance of their letter, Mr Cook adds: “By the standards of diplomatic communiqu?s, their statement is off the Richter scale.” (Source: The Independent)

Poor old Butcher Blair… will his tears ever manage to shift a drop of the blood on his hands?

Fuck Blair: Fallujah has just undergone the most intense shelling so far from the Nazi-like (?British Army) US military. US AC130 gunships have been slaughtering the innocents of Iraq once again while we do nothing. The US military is massacring civilians, simply by labelling them “insurgents.” We won’t see the bodies on our TVs, it won’t be in the headlines.

But it’s happening. With Butcher Blair’s total support.