“Bush honours his friend for making world ‘a safer place’”

“IT WAS intended as a potent symbol of American and British unity but, instead, served as a reminder of the grim legacy of the uncomfortably ‘special’ relationship between George Bush and Tony Blair.”

“Last night, Mr Bush presented the former prime minister with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”

“It is the highest US civilian award, bestowed on those who work to spread democracy or peace or further American national interests, and it draws to an end the awkward and at times painful history of two men whose popularity was stained by the Iraq war. [. . .]”

“The ‘poodle’ charge stung, not least because Mr Blair had wanted to restrain the US administration in its war in Iraq. Instead of being painted as the voice of reason, curtailing the president’s wilder tendencies, he was portrayed as a lapdog.”

“That criticism was echoed by the former US president, Jimmy Carter, who attacked Mr Blair for his ‘blind’ support of the war in Iraq. Mr Carter said Mr Blair’s backing had been ‘apparently subservient’. [. . .]”

“Mr Blair’s support for the war in Iraq cost him support at home and fuelled dissent in the Labour Party, with many MPs uncomfortable about his closeness to a Republican president. [. . .]”

“Mr Bush has become a peripheral figure in recent weeks and the Iraq war has been judged a failure, rather than a victory deserving of medals.”

Gerri Peev. (2009, January 13). Bush honours his friend for making world ‘a safer place’. http://news.scotsman.com/. Retrieved January 13, 2009, from http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Bush-honours-his-friend-for.4872450.jp

This is not the time to hand out a medal which reminds people of the infamy of George W. Bush and Blair.

Please see http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/12/george-w-bush-will-live-in-infamy.html “George W. Bush will live in infamy.”

Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang
B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993