European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 17, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                May 2007 opinion stars and stripes Mideast edition Page 13 even As he Blair Tough to figure out by Anne Applebaum the Washington Post he has been called everything from an inferior Bill Clinton to As divisive a figure As thatch his record in the Middle East has been described As one of Cata strophic and his mistakes have been attributed to stupendous moral Vani he has been called a a unfortunate Blair a modern tragedy is the title of the Spectator magazines special 36page Endo Blair yet during the onslaught of political obituaries that have appeared in Britain since his Long awaited resignation speech last you youll be sorry when there gone was a sentiment quite frequently expressed about Blair and his and that was just the British press the the germans and pretty much everyone else have also spent the past few Days puzzling Over his partly this is because it affects All of them if nothing his transformation of the British labor party from a Bunch of unelectable Semi marxists into the Slickest political Force in Europe has not gone unnoticed by would be partly this is because the Good will engendered by Blairs economic Success contrasts so sharply with the ill will inspired by his decision to fight in Blair the Spinos manipulating fraudster who lied to take us to As one recent caricature put inspires stunning outpourings of particularly from members of his own i am convinced that the real reason people in Britain and elsewhere cant Stop talking about Blair has nothing to do with politics at the problem is deeper Funda the mans character is a on the one he frequently describes himself As a True conviction a Man who Sticks to his guns whatever the opinion polls certainly that How he explains i decided we should stand shoulder to shoulder with our oldest he stated in his resignation speech hand on i did what i thought was i May have been that your but believe one thing if nothing i did what i thought was right for our at the same Blair is perhaps the most outstanding contemporary example of the politician who wants to be loved and who tries at All times to be All things to All he Speaks the language of the left when he is talking to his own dwells on free markets when he addresses Busi Ness executives at least for the first few years of his appeared to believe that getting everyone to agree with him about everything was Only a matter of during an interview in he explained this belief to me like this if i could get out and explain to people what were doing and Why were doing basically they support but since he  always get out and explain to people what were he in vented the British version of the modern Media though spin want unheard of in pre Blair it is fair to say that he perfected the arts of the Well aimed the removal of fingerprints from the the careful timing of bad on the very Day of his resignation the British government quietly revealed that one of Blairs pet programs was going to Cost far More than anticipated presumably because no one would write about a such a lowly subject on that Day of bigger his fiercest critics claim that even the decision to invade Iraq is not Evi Dence that Blair did what i thought was on the they say he invaded Iraq because he thought it was going to be Blairs departure thus leaves unresolved this weird dilemma is he deeply a Man of conviction is he deeply a Man who governs by spin or does he use spin to make himself look like a Man of conviction cent of britons think that Blair genuinely believes that All of his statements and actions Are morally which is actually a pretty High yet 51 percent think that he manages to convince himself that whatever he has decided to do must be mor ally a statement if you think about implies that More than half of britons believe Blair has a Loose grip on not not the healthcare not the not peace in Northern ire but this the Gap Between Blairs High minded language and the often Grubby reality is above All what will occupy Blairs future just As it has occupied his not because the question has political implications any but because it is a genuine according to one recent some 28 per Anne Applebaum is a Post Petraeus has dems of he needs their patience supposed leaders such As Senate majority Leader Harry Reid de Clare that the War is we have a video from a Laidas 2 Ayman weve got them Kathryn Lopez Al Zawaheri and id think the same if i were a jihad maybe we can Chalk this democratic rhetoric up to the partisan ways of the but what happens in the Belt Way Doest stay and when were dealing with irresponsible rhetoric int chiefly a breach of Domestic politeness its a slap in the face to our troops abroad and a morale boost for their foes on the the War critics attitude has been All wrong since the so called surge the critics on left and right alike have re fused to give the surge a including prominent democrats who initially supported the War and a democratic sen ate that unanimously approved army David Petraeus to go to Declar ing his efforts a failure while he was just getting True leaders might have considered instead of shooting their military in the collective foot and giving moral support to the enemy taking a deep breath and realizing that the Brave sacrifices of iraqis and our Al lies have earned Petraeus and his forces a Chance to the last few weeks didst have to be like this and the summer months dont need to follow the same building toward another showdown Between con Gress and the president in if the leaders on the democratic Side had been adult about it in Stead of throwing Tan cheered on by the anti War left Wing internet they might Tragus our and he has but we also cant stay in Iraq indefinitely and we cant continue to lose american knowing that our enemy will when were dealing with irresponsible rhetoric is a slap in the face to our troops abroad and a morale boost for their foes on the have tried something like this we dont like what were seeing in and neither do the american we know you cant but we owe it to those who have already sacrificed to give be Only be reenergize by an immediate we must Send a United signal to our friends in Iraq that Al though we want to help to make their new country we Are not colonial rulers and we cannot be there lets set some benchmarks help them in the chaos of their new govern ment to set some were their Friend and Mentor but not their nation which we think you agree with us we live in dangerous mistakes have been made but unified and responsible we can avoid making fatal ones the War in Iraq has not been a grand to say the we can All agree on americans dont like to we can agree on now lets go from there and try to come to a reasonable com Promise that wont leave the legacy of our fallen and the iraqi people High and had democratic leaders in Congress taken that they would have proven themselves i the majority party in Congress May be leading us to greater dangers we could have Kathryn Lopez is National review online prickly City by Scott Stantis Bekke we go Tot a dems 06 Clinton sues a sen wort dems want