"There is a fundamental misunderstanding that this is about changing policy
on Syria and Iran."
- Prime Minister Tony Blair, World Affairs Speech, 11/13/06
Dateline: London
London-Based Reporting On Prime Minister Tony Blair's Remarks Shows That
Prime Minister Blair "Offered No Dramatic New Policy Proposals."
The Washington Post: Prime Minister Blair "Offered No Dramatic New Policy
Proposals." "Blair, who has been President Bush's chief foreign ally in
the Iraq war, offered no dramatic new policy proposals on Iraq or the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which he called the region's 'core' issue."
(Kevin Sullivan, "Blair Calls For 'Whole Middle East' Strategy, Pressure On
Iran," The Washington Post, 11/14/06)
The New York Times: Prime Minister Blair "Took Pains ... To Avoid Giving
The Impression That He Was Making Major Policy Changes." "Iran has a
choice, Mr. Blair said, of partnership or isolation. But he took pains, in
his annual foreign policy speech, to avoid giving the impression that he
was making major policy changes in response to uncertainties surrounding
the Bush administration after the American elections last week. He also
laced his speech with criticism of Iran, accusing it of 'using pressure
points in the region' to thwart Western diplomacy." (Alan Cowell, "Blair
Urges Strategy Change In Mideast, Spotlighting Iran," The New York Times,11/14/06)
Dateline: Washington
Washington-Based Reporting Claims Prime Minister Blair Shifted His
Position.
The Washington Post: "President Bush came under new pressure yesterday at home and abroad to alter his policies in the Middle East. British Prime Minister Tony Blair pushed for a broader Arab-Israeli peace initiative to
help stabilize Iraq, while the incoming chairman of the Senate Armed
Services Committee pledged to take a hard line on seeking early troop
withdrawals." (Michael Abramowitz and Thomas E. Ricks, "Bush Faces New
Calls To Shift Policies On Mideast," The Washington Post, 11/14/06)
The New York Times: "President Bush and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of
Israel kept up their tough talk on Iran on Monday, warning it once again to
drop its nuclear ambitions, even as Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain
suggested that Tehran could take a role in stabilizing Iraq under 'a new
partnership.'" (Jim Rutenberg, "Bush And Israeli Prime Minister Maintain
Tough Front On Iran," The New York Times, 11/14/06)
Prime Minister Blair's Policy Is Not New And Is Similar To President Bush's
Policy
Yesterday, Prime Minister Blair Repeated His Previous Call For Talks With
Iran If The Iranians "Abide By, Not Flout, Their International
Obligations." "But we all want Iran to suspend its enrichment process
which if allowed to continue, will give them a nuclear weapon. Under the
agreement we brokered in June, the US has said they will talk to Iran
direct for the first time in 30 years, if they abide by the UN demand to
suspend enrichment. But Iran is refusing to do it. Instead they are using
the pressure points in the region to thwart us. So they help the most
extreme elements of Hamas in Palestine; Hizbollah in the Lebanon; Shia
militia in Iraq. That way, they put obstacles in the path to peace, paint
us, as they did over the Israel/Lebanon conflict, as the aggressors,
inflame the Arab street and create political turmoil in our democratic
politics. It is a perfectly straightforward and clear strategy. It will
only be defeated by an equally clear one: to relieve these pressure points
one by one and then, from a position of strength to talk, in a way I
described in July in my speech in Los Angeles: offer Iran a clear strategic
choice: they help the MEPP not hinder it; they stop supporting terrorism in
Lebanon or Iraq; and they abide by, not flout, their international
obligations. In that case, a new partnership is possible. Or
alternatively they face the consequences of not doing so: isolation."
(Prime Minister Blair, World Affairs Speech To The Lord Mayor's Banquet,
London, England, 11/13/06)
Yesterday, President Bush Also Repeated His Previous Call For Dialogue With
Iran If The Iranians "Verifiably Suspend Their Enrichment Activities." "If
the Iranians want to have a dialogue with us, we have shown them a way
forward, and that is for them to ... verifiably suspend their enrichment
activities. We put that proposal on the table awhile back. We said that
if you want to have a dialogue with us, we're willing to come to the table
with the EU, as well as Russia and China, to discuss a way forward. ... I
think it's very important for the world to unite with one common voice to
say to the Iranians that, if you choose to continue forward, you'll be
isolated. And one source of isolation would be economic isolation."
(President Bush, Remarks After Meeting With Prime Minister Olmert Of
Israel, Washington, DC, 11/13/06)