Apparently his impending departure from the Prime Ministership is a liberating experience for Tony Blair. About European politicians, he just wrote,

"The strain of, frankly, anti—American feeling in parts of European politics is madness when set against the long—term interests of the world we believe in....The danger is if they decide to pull up the drawbridge and disengage. We need them involved," Blair said, spelling out his political vision in a pamphlet published by The Foreign Policy Center think—tank.

This from Reuters, which had to hold its nose,metaphorically, while writing. Being immature and impulsive, the writers just couldn't control themselves, and the last word is given to one Rosemary Hollis, Reuterized as "a Middle East expert at British think—tank Chatham House."

"He is not as instrumental as he needs to be, or would like to believe he is," she said. 

Gosh, I love this guy Blair.

Way to go, Tony!

The Foreign Policy Centre may be found at http://fpc.org.uk/

James Lewis    9 14 06