One week before the end of his presidency on January 20, 2009, former U.S. President George W. Bush awarded former British Prime Minister Tony Blair the “Medal of Freedom.” The highest American civilian honor awarded by individuals who have made outstanding contributions to other important public or private undertakings.
Bush described Blair as saying: “This is a true friend of the United States. He faced historical challenges with great determination, and he is the kind of politician model his country and abroad need.”
Blair stood with Bush, the United Kingdom and the United States participated in the war in Afghanistan and Iraq. As the Taliban regained power in recent days, no one heard the voices of the two former officials celebrating the “elimination of the Taliban and their resignation in Afghanistan” .
Blair… Friends of War
“I am proud of our contribution to the overthrow of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan,” this is a speech delivered by the former British Prime Minister to his national parliament immediately after the fall of Kandahar and the withdrawal of Taliban fighters from Kanda in December 2001. Elapsed, the Taliban now return to the capital Kabul and control all areas of Afghanistan.
Perhaps Blair is one of the most famous figures documenting the era of the Afghanistan War and the Iraq War. The news was announced immediately after the attack on September 11, 2001. Blair will stand side by side with the United States and is enthusiastic about his work. The country participated in the first military operation in Afghanistan.
Tony Blair has not announced his position on what is currently happening in Afghanistan, although he is defending his decision to intervene in those distant countries to “fight terrorism, protect the national security of other countries, and protect Western democratic values.”
Accompanied by George Bush, he turned a deaf ear to the advice of the then U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who demanded that intervention be “punishment and withdrawal” rather than being involved in a long battle.
Five Questions Standard
For many years, Tony Blair and George Bush have been the most important defenders of the war in Afghanistan and its importance. Although former US President George W. Bush was not surprised by this incident, many people still blame Blair for his military intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The reason for this warning is the so-called “Blairism.” This is a document he presented at a meeting in Chicago in 1999. It includes five criteria for military intervention by the West in any part of the world. Take action for humanitarian purposes.
The doctrine that Blair believes the world must adopt before intervening in any country raises five questions, namely, “Are we sure what is happening in this country is a crime against humanity? Have all diplomatic options been exhausted? Military actions will be cautious. And is it accurate? Are we prepared for long-term battles? Finally, do we have national interests that need to intervene?”
When this theory is applied to the Afghanistan model, it will appear to be inconsistent with Blair’s theory more than 20 years ago. This is why he stated that the standard needs to be supplemented, that is, the need to add “What is the danger of Islamic extremism?”
The war in Afghanistan and Iraq continued to hunt down Tony Blair. Although he maintained a huge influence in British politics and maintained good relations with the Americans, these were the reasons why he was removed from the leadership of the Labor Party. The United States awarded Blair the highest honor in exchange for his support in the war in Afghanistan.
But so far, Blair has not answered the question: Is it really worth it? This is a question that is being repeated by all British media. They believe that what happened in Kabul is a “historical insult to Britain”, as described in the British newspaper The Times.
An aide to George Bush said he was very upset about the Taliban’s control of Afghanistan (Reuters)Bush: “War on Terror” and “Axis of Evil”
During the election campaign, George Bush promised to pursue a moderate foreign policy, embodying the American character of “real power humility and truly great humility.” He compared his approach with the “arrogance” of the Bill Clinton administration, which “undermined” The American League alienated its friends and encouraged its opponents.”
Inevitably, all this changed on September 11, 2001. The attack united the United States in common grief and resolved to eradicate al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
A few hours after the September 11 attacks in Florida, George Bush returned to Washington and used the text of the Bible to speak to the American people: “Even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I am not afraid of evil, because you with me.”
Bush called religions for his war on terrorism. He never thought that this war would extend to the three American presidents after him. He did not expect that Americans would pay a lot of blood.
President Bush responded to the “terrorist attack” with the “war on terrorism” and identified the “axis of evil”. The members of this axis have always been a headache for the United States; North Korea has nuclear weapons, and Iran still intends to acquire nuclear capabilities and regional expansion. Iraq is not far from Tehran’s influence.
Prior to the convening of the joint congressional meeting on September 20, 2001, President Bush announced a new foreign policy approach to the September 11 attacks. “Our war on terrorism began with Al Qaeda, but it will not end there until every terrorist attack. Organizations are discovered, prevented from spreading across the world, stopped and defeated, and the war on terrorism will end.”
Two weeks after the September 11 attacks, a small CIA strike force arrived in Afghanistan and used the money to buy the cooperation of the Taliban’s enemies, hostile militias, and warlords.
In order to eliminate the Taliban, Bush does not mind cooperating with the warlords who have been operating and destroying Afghanistan for years. The US airstrike allowed Afghan fighters to drive the Taliban out of the capital Kabul. But bin Laden-Bush’s main goal-has disappeared.
On Monday, Bush’s senior aide Karl Rove told Fox News that President Bush was “deeply disturbed by the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan”.
After 8 years of working in the White House, George Bush left his workplace in the blazing Texas sun, leaving his country to suffer in the quagmire of Iraq and Afghanistan. Twenty years after starting the war and defeating the Taliban, the Taliban regained control of a country exhausted by George Bush’s failure to define a war of victory.
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