Planning Coherence, Progressing Change

The situation in Iraq shows "real signs of change and progress". Tony says it, so it must be true. His reverence was giving a special surprise sermon in the course of a special surprise visit, which may perhaps be the reason why there are no reports of his being pelted with flowers. There was a mortar, but a spokesbeing gave a reassuring statement: "No information suggests that this was other than usual business". In other words, the mortar was not intended as a threat to Tony. The health and welfare of Tony were unimpaired by the mortar. Tony did not suffer, and Tony was not unduly inconvenienced. So that's all right.

The Observer's report does its best to keep a balanced view of Tony's career, noting "the success of military intervention in Kosovo" in turning a bloody mess into a bigger, bloodier mess, and lamenting that, for reason or reasons unknown, "the perception among the public is that the prime minister took Britain to war over a lie that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction". According to a poll for the Observer, fifty-eight per cent of Britons consider Iraq to be Tony's biggest failure. It is sad what perceptions among the public can do; but then, that's why we have newspapers.

Anyway, it appears that Tony believes there have been "positive political developments" and wishes to discuss with Nuri al-Maliki - a fellow US satrap, but one with a little more pride - the virtues of a coherent plan to see faster progress. "We need to take advantage of the possible momentum in Iraqi politics to create the space for long-term security," a spokesbeing said. "The key to that is reconciliation ensuring the needs of Iraqis of different communities are properly taken into account and a lasting political accommodation is reached between them." Gosh. Well, I bet old Nuri never thought of that.