Blair the Dove of Peace Doomed to Failure?

It has not taken long for the outgoing British Prime minister to quickly resurface on the world stage in the guise of a peace envoy for the Middle East

Blair's supporters certainly have voiced his credentials for the suitability for the job. Most will point out his role in the 'successful' Northern Ireland peace process. Yet, let us not forget that any deal that was brokered had to include the IRA, a paramilitary "terrorist" organization, to satisfy all parties. Will Blair afford the same privilege to "terrorist" organizations in the Middle East like Hamas? It seems unlikely. Others will point to his standpoints over Kosovo and Sierra Leone.

The Blair spin machine has already gone into overdrive, with The Sun even going as far as proclaiming him a prophet no less!

"But for Iraq it is entirely possible that Tony Blair could have won a fourth term in power. But prophets are rarely honoured in their own land."

It is not beyond the realms of fantasy that once he has officially announced his conversion to Catholicsm he can ask Pope Benedict to start the process immediately for the beatification of Saint Tony. I jest!

His appointment has already ruffled a few feathers and one wonders if the choice of Blair is not to antagonize Muslims further having been a principal component in the so called "War on Terror" and the subsequent invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, issues which have polarized the Muslim communities further. The ongoing conflict in Iraq will continue to mark his reign as peace envoy and hang over him just as it did when he was British Prime Minister. 153 dead British soldiers, over 3,500 Americans and between 200,000 and a 1 million Iraqis (the accepted figure being 650,000). Blair isn't just covered in blood, he's drowning in it!

Furthermore, it has been conveniently forgotten that the first seeds of discontent on his long road to abdication were sown over his fiasco last summer in handling the Lebanon Crisis; after his own party and cabinet questioned his support for the Israeli attack on the Lebanon.

Blair, if you recall, also blocked a UN call for a ceasefire. He did this, knowingly and deliberately, so that he could give the Israelis some precious time to continue to bomb Southern Lebanon from the air. This was also the man that allowed Israel to be armed with weapons knowing that they would continue to be used against Lebanese Civilians!

And the same man is asked to become a Middle East Peace Envoy!?

Scratch a bit further underneath the surface and you will find that even in diplomatic circles, the ones which Blair hopes to occupy in the very near future, once criticized his foreign policies as divisive. The diplomats, including former ambassadors to Baghdad and Tel Aviv, urged Blair to "regain a say in US foreign policy over the Middle East as a matter of the highest urgency".

In spite of all these shortcomings will Blair have as much success and impact in the role as any other envoy appointed to try to solve the Middle East conundrum. Take his own Middle East envoy in the last decade, Lord Michael Levy, who most people have heard little of and his accomplishments in relation to the Middle East. A former pop music mogul and major fund raiser for Jewish and Israeli causes, he is more well known for his role in the "Cash for Honours Scandal" than any progress made in the Middle East!

Moreover, what exactly does Blair's new role involve?

In a statement from the group it was revealed he would spend significant time in the region "working with the parties and others to help create viable and lasting government institutions representing all Palestinians, a robust economy, and a climate of law and order for the Palestinian people".

However, before the printer ink was even dry on that particular statement, the Americans were outlining how they saw Tony performing his Middle Eastern role. "He will be charged with shoring up Palestinian institutions, but not with trying to nail down a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians because Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, is handling that job herself," administration officials said a day later!

When will we ever learn from history? Statesmen have often courted accolades even though the myriad of truth often suggest they are wholly unsuitable. Henry Kissinger was awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize for helping to establish a ceasefire and U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam, even though the US were still actively in conflict with Vietnam and secretly bombing Vietnam's next door neighbour, Cambodia, a decision later revealed to be instigated by Kissinger himself.

Likewise, former US President, Jimmy Carter, was seen as an advocate for trying to advance democracy and human rights, earning himself the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Yet, this is the same person that saw nothing wrong in making an agreement with Baby Doc Duvalier to not accept the asylum claims of Haitian refugees or the same man that initiated a joint U.S.-Thai operation in 1979 which, for ten years, propped up the notorious Khmer Rouge under the banner of anti-Communism!

Men of so-called peace that promote peace are often war mongering generals intent on destabilizing regions. Whilst the unsuitability of Blair has rightly been called into question, it does not matter in the grand scheme of things, for any Middle East envoy is doomed to failure if they continue to fight their own battles and not of those they seek to serve and protect.

Who Am I?

This is something I have been meaning to do for a while but never got round to it. There is always something better and more important to do. Life seems to live you rather than the other way around.

Work, rest and play - with or without the Chocolate bar - the globalised world doesn't want your mind to stop, so many things to do, places to be and people to see.

As a Muslim man living in the UK it's all too easy to just to let time drift by; dreams of career success; of the detached home with the nice BMW outside and the wife in her best silk Hijab greeting you as you come home at three (no more 9 to 5's here); having picked the kids up from Islamic school; their Tajweed is magnificent and all is good with the world.

The things with dreams is they stop you living the "Now" and you live for your dreams. You forget who you are and you will become anyone you need to be to get to who you want to be. People, including Muslims have forgotten to how to appreciate the things life gives you - you know the small things like being able walk down the street and smell the fresh air (which is mostly filled with CO2 from the nearest SUV caught in the next traffic jam, caused by the ill timed road works of the local council, motivated by the need to "expend" the budget in time for the next budget so they can ask for more money!) and having the ability to think about the world in which we live.

The question rarely asked is what do "I" really think and when "I" do think, are the thoughts even mine?