Tony Blair’s speech yesterday was a masterpiece of concision, precision and passion. One day, someone should write a good book on how two British prime ministers, Thatcher and Blair, have come to have such high and powerful profiles in the U.S. My favorite extract from Blair’s speech was the following Ciceronian paragraph:
Can we be sure that terrorism and WMD will join together? If we are wrong, we will have destroyed a threat that, at its least is responsible for inhuman carnage and suffering. That is something I am confident history will forgive. But if our critics are wrong and we do not act, then we will have hesitated in face of this menace, when we should have given leadership. That is something history will not forgive.
This is what the carpers and nay-sayers still don’t understand. The West is at war with a real and uniquely dangerous enemy. When the consequences of negligence become catastrophic, the equation of intervention changes. The burden of proof must be on those who counsel inaction rather than on those who urge an offensive, proactive battle. Does it matter one iota, for example, if we find merely an apparatus and extensive program for building WMDs in Iraq rather than actual weapons? Or rather: given the uncertain nature of even the best intelligence, should we castigate our leaders for over-reacting to a threat or minimizing it? Since 9/11, my answer is pretty categorical. Blair and Bush passed the test. They still do.
BLAIR’S LIBERALISM: But what Tony Blair’s speech does more than anything else is reveal the decadent state of American liberalism. Imagine if a Democratic candidate could speak as clearly and as forcefully about the war on terror – and then criticized the Bush administration on domestic matters or progress on homeland security. When was the last time you heard a ‘liberal’ actually speak of liberty in so enthusiastic and unambiguous a manner? Here’s Blair in full throttle:
The spread of freedom is the best security for the free. It is our last line of defense and our first line of attack. And just as the terrorist seeks to divide humanity in hate, so we have to unify around an idea. And that idea is liberty. (Applause.) We must find the strength to fight for this idea and the compassion to make it universal. Abraham Lincoln said, “Those that deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.” And it is this sense of justice that makes moral the love of liberty.
Blair has helpfully reminded us once again of the urgent need to deal with the threat of Islamo-fascism, to rebuild those societies plagued by it however long it takes, to pursue every possible avenue to bring a settlement between Israel and Palestinian Arabs – to place the toughness of war in the context of a rebirth of liberty. He also reminds us of the need to bring as much of Europe along as we possibly can.
BUT HE ALSO GETS AMERICA: Beyond this, Blair seems to get America. He has an amazing instinct for public mood, for what others need to hear, and yesterday, he delivered. I found his peroration intensely moving – for its clarity and for its empathy:
We are fighting for the inalienable right of humankind — black or white; Christian or not; left, right or merely indifferent — to be free — free to raise a family in love and hope; free to earn a living and be rewarded by your own efforts; free not to bend your knee to any man in fear; free to be you, so long as being you does not impair the freedom of others. That’s what we’re fighting for, and it’s a battle worth fighting. And I know it’s hard on America. And in some small corner of this vast country, out in Nevada or Idaho or these places I’ve never been to but always wanted to go — (laughter) — I know out there, there’s a guy getting on with his life, perfectly happily, minding his own business, saying to you, the political leaders of this country, “Why me, and why us, and why America?” And the only answer is because destiny put you in this place in history in this moment in time, and the task is yours to do. And our job — my nation, that watched you grow, that you fought alongside and now fights alongside you, that takes enormous pride in our alliance and great affection in our common bond — our job is to be there with you. You’re not going to be alone. We will be with you in this fight for liberty. We will be with you in this fight for liberty. And if our spirit is right and our courage firm, the world will be with us.
It doesn’t get much better than that, does it? The president is bloody lucky to have this prime minister. We all are.
The Dish 