Alex Miller
In the same week that British military fatalities in Iraq reached 103, British Prime Minister Tony Blair — who will be visiting Australia in late March — stunned viewers during a TV chat show interview by claiming that God would be the judge of his 2003 decision to commit British troops to the invasion of Iraq. Speaking on the March 4 edition of the ITV Parkinson show, Blair explained how he managed to live with his decision to go to war: "If you have faith about these things, then you realise that judgement is made by other people. If you believe in God, it's made by God as well."
Blair's comment immediately drew a scathing response from the families of British soldiers killed in the conflict. In the March 4 edition of the London Independent, Roger Bacon, who has been trying without success to arrange a face-to-face meeting with Blair since his son Matthew was killed in Iraq, was quoted as saying: "This would explain why he won't see the parents. How can he speak to us when God told him to send the troops out to Iraq so our sons could be killed?"
Rose Gentle, whose son Gordon was killed in Basra in 2004, commented on behalf of the Military Families Against the War campaign: "How can he say he is a Christian? A Christian would never put people out there to be killed. A good Christian wouldn't be for this war. I'm actually quite disgusted by the comments. It's a joke."
Asked by the show's host whether he regarded himself as a "Christian socialist", Blair replied: "It's been a long time since anyone called me a socialist."
Anti-war protesters are planning an appropriate reception for Blair when he addresses federal parliament in Canberra on March 28. Visit <http://www.actnow.canberra.net.au> for protest details.
From Green Left Weekly, March 15, 2006.
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