Saturday, August 26, 2006
Jimmy Carter Blasts Tony Blair
Being too pro-American is a bad thing ... at least according to Jimmy Carter.
The former president ripped British Prime Minister Tony Blair, saying his lack of leadership and timid subservience to President Bush lie behind the ongoing crisis in Iraq and the worldwide threat of terrorism.
"I have been surprised and extremely disappointed by Tony Blair's behavior," Carter told Britain's Sunday Telegraph newspaper.
"I think that more than any other person in the world, the prime minister could have had a moderating influence on Washington - and he has not. I really thought that Tony Blair, who I know personally to some degree, would be a constraint on President Bush's policies towards Iraq."
In the exclusive interview with the Telegraph, Carter made it plain that he sees Blair's lack of leadership as being a key factor in the present crisis in Iraq, which followed the 2003 invasion - a pre-emptive move he said he would never have considered himself as president.
Carter also said that the Iraq invasion had subverted the fight against terrorism and instead strengthened al-Qaida and the recruitment of terrorists.
"In many countries where I meet with leaders and private citizens there is an equating of American policy with Great Britain - with Great Britain obviously playing the lesser role.
"We now have a situation where America is so unpopular overseas that even in countries like Egypt and Jordan our approval ratings are less than 5 percent. It's a shameful and pitiful state of affairs and I hold your British Prime Minister to be substantially responsible for being so compliant and subservient."
Being too pro-American is a bad thing ... at least according to Jimmy Carter.
The former president ripped British Prime Minister Tony Blair, saying his lack of leadership and timid subservience to President Bush lie behind the ongoing crisis in Iraq and the worldwide threat of terrorism.
"I have been surprised and extremely disappointed by Tony Blair's behavior," Carter told Britain's Sunday Telegraph newspaper.
"I think that more than any other person in the world, the prime minister could have had a moderating influence on Washington - and he has not. I really thought that Tony Blair, who I know personally to some degree, would be a constraint on President Bush's policies towards Iraq."
In the exclusive interview with the Telegraph, Carter made it plain that he sees Blair's lack of leadership as being a key factor in the present crisis in Iraq, which followed the 2003 invasion - a pre-emptive move he said he would never have considered himself as president.
Carter also said that the Iraq invasion had subverted the fight against terrorism and instead strengthened al-Qaida and the recruitment of terrorists.
"In many countries where I meet with leaders and private citizens there is an equating of American policy with Great Britain - with Great Britain obviously playing the lesser role.
"We now have a situation where America is so unpopular overseas that even in countries like Egypt and Jordan our approval ratings are less than 5 percent. It's a shameful and pitiful state of affairs and I hold your British Prime Minister to be substantially responsible for being so compliant and subservient."
