Endorsement for Labor

Tony Blair is telling the citizens of his country not to vote for him if they honestly believe he acted on bad faith and knowingly lied about any of the issues leading up to the war.

Shrewd politics. The message isn't explicitly about Iraq, or WMD, or intelligence. He's telling the British public he has such a high regard for honest principles that he's encouraging others to act on theirs, even if they disagree. It's the political equivalent of Progressive offering insurance rates of it's competitors even when they are lower.

Of course he's ahead at the polls, so it's easier to be magnanimous.

Here was a guy who argued passionately before parliament that one of the key reasons to invade Iraq was to send a clear message to current and potential dictators that international organizations like the United Nations really mean what they say - and, at the end of repeated attempts at peaceful settlement, are willing to follow-through on a course of action. What a radical idea! I couldn't believe it when I saw it during Commons Hour, and I remember it distinctly - in part because his overall speech was so brilliant and lucid compared to the meatcleaver syntax from W that I even called family all over the country and told them to flip on C-SPAN.

Ah, me. The notion of an international body (and a prime minister) that stands on principles. We do need more of Tony and those quaint, liberal ideas.