What more could you wish for at Christmas? A visit from Tony Blair!

[Mistletoo]

I'm sure some of the lads will be genuinely chuffed he's gone to visit.

For myself, ...............

[LadySherlockofLGJ]

Christmas in Iraq I might just about stomach, Christmas in Iraq with Tony Blair oh ppurleasseeeeeeeee

BTW found this when googling images this morning, strangely enough I googled goose fat.

Just about sums up the whole sorry debacle

[sharklet]

Honestly - I think most of them will think it is the attention seeking action it so clearly is. I don't know many forces folk who like him or agree with him about Iraq.

However I will be lighting a candle for all troops deployed and families separated on at 2pm Christmas Day as part of the Christmas Candle of Hope.

[sharklet]

LOL Sherlock - like it

[homemama]

And if he didn't go we'd be complaining that he'd never left London to find out what it was really like.

Whether they (or us) voted for him or not, he's still their P.M!

[Sleighmenere]

LOL LGJ

[LadySherlockofLGJ]

The man is a self seeking,shallow, watered down Tory.

All the things Labour abused the Tories for, have they rescinded one of them ??


NO

[homemama]

I was just saying he has a duty to go whether we agree or not.

[peacedove]

If Blair never left his home, let alone London; if he decided not to communicate with the world anymore, I for one wouldn't complain.

[flutterbeedreaminofawhitexmas]

I for one think it's good that he went out there.

[Normsnockers]

Message withdrawn

[Mistletoo]

Oh Sherlock - ROFLMAO! brilliant!

[Mistletoo]

he had a duty to attend funerals, or at least be at the airfield when the bodies were returned - where the hell was he then?

[doormat]

mistletoo he was too busy with his tongue up a certain presidents arse

[LadySherlockofLGJ]

The man is a self seeking,shallow, watered down Tory.

All the things Labour abused the Tories for, have they rescinded one of them ??


NO

[homemama]

My brother is serving out there and he has told me before that these visits are very good for morale.
So what I'm saying is that even if it is a PR exercise, it's still doing some good.

[paolosgirl]

I know, bless him - wasn't it just the most thoughtful thing he could have done?

Er, no - that would be bringing them home for Christmas, just as he will be. Oooh, don't even start me

[RudolphsAuntMabel]

Remember when Maggie went abroad that time and came back no longer PM? Hmmmmmmm, what's my Christmas wish?

[peacedove]

homemama, I do hope your brother returns home safely, but I don't see how it can be a morale booster, unless one agrees with Blair.

And I don't!

[homemama]

Well my brother has a good degree in politics and law and still chose this career which he knew would put his life in danger.

He says that whether you agreed with the war or not is academic now. He says that now they are there they need to see the people through to democracy otherwise those Iraqis that have helped establish the new system will be left at the mercy of the terrorists.

This isn't my view, it's his, and he's out there in the thick of it.

[Normsnockers]

Message withdrawn

[peacedove]

well, your brother has a right to his views.

I disagree with this war, and for me, if I disagree with something as profound as war, I would refuse to join, even at the risk of a court martial.

I don't think Halliburton's profits, or the Project for a New American Century , are worthwhile causes for putting lives in danger (in fact extinguishing the lives of many).

I see that democracy is a red-herring here, but I pray again for safe return of your brother and others, and for peace.

[peacedove]

[quote]I will never understand individuals who come to this country for a better life (be they refuge seekers or economic migrants) and then badmouth/revile their new countrymen as a nation.[/quote]

I wonder how to put this?

It is quite drastic to use this analogy, but I do this to illustrate the principle, so let me put it this way:

Had I been a German, were alive in Hitler's days, and if I had been in the Nazi army, should I have felt a morale boost if Hitler had come visiting?

And if I did not, would I have been an unpatriotic German?

Were those Germans unpatriotic who disagreed with Hitler, and spoke or wrote against him?

I may be wrong, but I think loyalty to humanity is above loyalty to one's country.

Some of us have the means to travel to the country of our choice, and bestow upon our child-to-be the status of being born in a particular country, but our own birth in a particular place is an accident over which none of us has had control.

When one becomes a citizen of a place, for whatever reasons, one does not sell one's right to hold or voice opinions that may displease the government.

Badmouthing is something I dislike, of anyone. It is not good manners, it is not civil, but was I badmouthing?

[Normsnockers]

Message withdrawn

[homemama]

FFS, You can't compare Blair to Hitler!
And I don't like the idea of my brother (an officer) being compared to a Nazi!

Even Jools wouldn't do that! Sorry that your lighthearted poke at the PM has degenerated into this.

Normsnockers, you're right. It boosts their morale because they feel like the government hasn't forgotten their efforts.

[Normsnockers]

Message withdrawn