Jack Straw

[AlfredJPruffock]

Following the hubris of the Cabinet shuffle,was it only myself that was surprised by Jack Straws departure ?

Then I read yesterday in the Independent that apparently it was Bush that told Blair Straw had to go due to Straws reluctance to wage war against Iran.

So are we now a US puppet state ...does make you wonder.


Jack Straw's fate was sealed in a phone call from the White House to Tony Blair last month, according to the former foreign secretary's friends.


They say President George Bush was furious that Mr Straw said it was "nuts" to use nuclear weapons against Iran, an option reported to be under active consideration in Washington.

Downing Street had already warned Mr Straw repeatedly to tone down his complete rejection of the military route as "inconceivable", insisting it was important to keep all options on the table.

The division between Mr Straw on the one hand and Mr Bush and Mr Blair on the other was exposed in Prime Minister's Questions on 19 April, although few realised the significance of the exchanges.

Sir Menzies Campbell asked Mr Blair whether he agreed with his Foreign Secretary that military action against Iran would be "inconceivable" and that the use of nuclear weapons would be "nuts".

An uncomfortable-looking PM said that while "nobody is talking about a military invasion" now was "not the time to send a message of weakness. The President of the US is not going to take any option off the table. That is perfectly sensible for all the reasons the President has himself given many, many times".

There is said to be jubilation this weekend among Washington's neo-conservatives at Mr Straw's demise. One retired senior US intelligence officer told his British counterpart recently that the White House lost confidence in the Foreign Secretary at least six months ago.


Read all About it here

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/pol...icle362559.ece

[wendigo100]

Following the hubris of the Cabinet shuffle,was it only myself that was surprised by Jack Straws departure ?

Then I read yesterday in the Independent that apparently it was Bush that told Blair Straw had to go due to Straws reluctance to wage war against Iran.

So are we now a US puppet state ...does make you wonder.

I always thought Straw looked out of his depth. Does anyone know of anything good he achieved, said, or was otherwise responsible for while in office? I cannot remember anything offhand.

[AlfredJPruffock]

I always thought Straw looked out of his depth. Does anyone know of anything good he achieved, said, or was otherwise responsible for while in office? I cannot remember anything offhand.

Sometimes we ought to take into account what Politicians refrain from doing and saying.

He didnt launch a war against Iran altough Blair seems desperate to get involved, Warmongering being an old Tyrants trick to deflect domestic issues.

Shoulder to Shoulder and all that jazz.

[NoddY]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4752963.stm

"No-one has the intention to take military action against Iran, new UK Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has said after talks at the UN in New York... But she refused to repeat her predecessor Jack Straw's insistence that such action was "inconceivable". "

[Mailman]

Jack Straw's fate was sealed in a phone call from the White House to Tony Blair last month, according to the former foreign secretary's friends.

Come on Alf, do some thinking for yourself The "quote" is from a friend of Straws...how impartial do you think that source is going to be?

Or is this more of a case of "of course this is true, someone who knows someone who wasnt even listening to a phone call that may not have occured said this therefore it MUST be true!".

Mailman

[Mailman]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4752963.stm

"No-one has the intention to take military action against Iran, new UK Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has said after talks at the UN in New York... But she refused to repeat her predecessor Jack Straw's insistence that such action was "inconceivable". "

And nor should action be ruled out!

The only thing apparently inconveivable is that certain people are only far too happy to have a religious dictatorship with ties to terrorist organisations through the middle east arm themselves with nukes.

Mailman

[Dalek Supreme]

Outside of the conspiracy theory circles, most analysts seem to think that Straw's demotion was straightforward punishment from Blair for getting too close to Gordon Brown (same with Geoff Hoon as well). What it does clearly show is that Blair has put his own short term interests ahead of the long term interests of the country, given that Straw was about to attend a crunch security council meeting that he himself had been instrumental in setting up and had spent months familiarising himself with, on the matter of what to do about Iran.

If you thought Jack Straw was out of his depth, wait until you see Margaret Beckett in action. I can hardly begin to imagine what the Russians and Chinese will make of her.

[lilelvis2000]

Looks like Dubya jerked the leash and TB was "asked" to remove the Islam friendly JS. Linking he removal with the freed inmates was just spin I imagine?

Wonder how long he'll be in his new crap job before he too resigns?

[AtW]

I can hardly begin to imagine what the Russians and Chinese will make of her.

Traditionally Russian and Chinese foreign ministers are puppets of respective regimes that actually make all decisions - it is inconcievable for Russian foreign minister to have his own opinion differing with that of his superiors ever voiced publicly. So, new Foreign Secretary might just fit in fine with those.

[Dalek Supreme]

You might very well be right, AtW. It is clear that Tony Blair sees himself as his own foreign minister and Margaret Beckett might be just the ticket in the Sino-Russo model, i.e. her master's voice, that and that alone.