The man who has struggled to win support among UK Muslims, who is now the Middle East peace envoy continued on his path to alienate the remaining Muslim supporters back home. Blair is ill equipped for this new role and is only complicating the situation. He manages to wrap nonsense and distortion around some valid points. The interview is chock full of classic Blair, with attacks on the big bad meanies who take exception to his half-truths.
The 800 pound gorilla in the room that Blair completely skips by is the racist tendencies in the UK that contribute to these problems. There's plenty of blame to spread around in all communities, but how can you fix a problem if you can't even admit a core factor in the problem? Admittedly the UK does a better job than most in Europe with integration but that's not saying much considering the racial strife and the "they should be happy with the two day old crust of bread that we give them" attitude across Europe. The strangest part of the interview is when Blair criticizes his own programs.
'The reason we are finding it hard to win this battle is that we're not actually fighting it properly. We're not actually standing up to these people and saying, "It's not just your methods that are wrong, your ideas are absurd. Nobody is oppressing you. Your sense of grievance isn't justified."'Hmm, so he was PM for 10 years yet he "didn't fight it properly"? Huh? Well, why not? If he botched all efforts so badly for 10 years as PM, how does he intend to be successful now when he has no firm position other than a coalition and consensus builder as peace envoy? Sheesh, I hope he stands down today so we can find someone who might actually have a clue because he's going in circles. Blair wants to remove the "peace" aspect of being a peace envoy.
Blair finishes the interview by pushing back on critics of the police state apparatus that he has launched during his term, linking those programs to deporting terrorists, which of course is not the issue that has infuriated people. The issue has been his trashing of civil liberties for an entire nation, policing their every move, law abiding citizen and terrorist alike.
The UK has a very difficult problem that needs to be addressed collectively so verbal attacks - shocking for a peace envoy, really - only encourages more division and more isolation from a community that is already feeling isolated. His frustration with the problem is understandable (though one might imagine a clearer understanding after 10 years as PM), but this tirade does nothing to help bring communities together and that is what everyone needs these days.
