Guest pelmetman Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 S.Africa's Tutu snubs event over 'indefensible' Blair (AFP) – 1 day ago CAPE TOWN — Peace icon Desmond Tutu on Tuesday said he would boycott an event in protest at sharing a stage with former British leader Tony Blair over his "morally indefensible" support of the US-led Iraqi invasion. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate decided to withdraw as a speaker at a one-day leadership summit after "wrestling with his conscience and taking counsel", his office told organisers. "Ultimately, the archbishop is of the view that Mr Blair's decision to support the United States' military invasion of Iraq, on the basis of unproven allegations of the existence in Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, was morally indefensible," his office wrote to organisers. The theme of the one-day summit on Thursday was leadership which could not be separated from morality, the letter added. "In this context, it would be inappropriate and untenable for the archbishop to share a platform with Mr Blair." Blair expressed his regret at Tutu's withdrawal from the one day event where the pair were part of the individual speaker line-up alongside chess champion Garry Kasparov and South Africa's Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan. "Obviously Tony Blair is sorry that the archbishop has decided to pull out now from an event that has been fixed for months and where he and the archbishop were never actually sharing a platform," his office said in a statement. The former prime minister's office acknowledged the pair's different approaches to Saddam Hussein's regime. "As far as Iraq is concerned they have always disagreed about removing Saddam by force -- such disagreement is part of a healthy democracy," his office said. Regarding the "morality" of his decision, the statement referred to recent memorials for victims of chemical weapons in the region and said: "So these decisions are never easy morally or politically". The US-led coalition overthrew the Iraqi dictator in 2003 but also unleashed internecine violence that killed tens of thousands of people. Well known for his outspokenness, Tutu's withdrawal comes amid plans by a local Muslim political party Al Jama-ah to protest at Blair's participation, linked to the decision to send troops into Iraq in 2003. "The demonstration is being held to support a warrant of arrest to charge him for crimes against humanity relating to the invasion of Iraq which led to the killings of millions of Iraqis," Sapa news agency quoted the party's president Ganief Hendricks as saying. Blair is the final guest speaker at the Discovery Invest Leadership Summit whose organisers expressed regret at Tutu's "unexpected" withdrawal, saying his contribution would have been invaluable. "At no point had Archbishop Tutu indicated his discomfort at speaking at the same conference as Prime Minister Blair and therefore his withdrawal was unexpected," said Hylton Kallner, Discovery's chief marketing officer. "Archbishop Tutu is an esteemed global icon and his presence at the Summit will be missed." I hope that put the lying b******d Blair in his place >:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliveH Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Well done and well said that man. Tutu has the measure of the man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antony1969 Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 I still say those who voted for Blair should be named and egged and then deported . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teflon2 Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 I personaly don't like Blair the first time I saw him I told my wife I wouldn't buy a secondhand car from that bloke but didn't Tutu know beforehand that he was to be there so to leave it to the last moment to withdraw smacks of underhand politics which makes him no better as far as I'm concerned. John :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 teflon2 - 2012-08-30 8:35 PM I personaly don't like Blair the first time I saw him I told my wife I wouldn't buy a secondhand car from that bloke but didn't Tutu know beforehand that he was to be there so to leave it to the last moment to withdraw smacks of underhand politics which makes him no better as far as I'm concerned. John :-| I can't imagine that the church has ever done anything " morally reprehensible " ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliveH Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 Hmmm - heaven forbid :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwendolyn Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 antony1969 - 2012-08-29 9:24 PM I still say those who voted for Blair should be named and egged and then deported . Then I trust that the Labour voters of the Sedgefield constituency have been given due notice of intent? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Go Desmond >:-) Desmond Tutu calls for Blair and Bush to be tried over Iraq Archbishop Desmond Tutu has been a long time critic of the war in Iraq Tony Blair and George W Bush should be taken to the International Criminal Court in The Hague over the Iraq war, Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said. Writing in the UK's Observer newspaper, he accused the former leaders of lying about weapons of mass destruction. The Iraq military campaign had made the world more unstable "than any other conflict in history", he said. Mr Blair responded by saying "this is the same argument we have had many times with nothing new to say". 'Playground bullies' Earlier this week, Archbishop Tutu, a veteran peace campaigner who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 in recognition of his campaign against apartheid, pulled out of a leadership summit in Johannesburg because he refused to share a platform with Mr Blair. The former Archbishop of Cape Town said the US- and UK-led action launched against Saddam's regime in 2003 had brought about conditions for the civil war in Syria and a possible Middle East conflict involving Iran. "The then leaders of the United States [Mr Bush] and Great Britain [Mr Blair] fabricated the grounds to behave like playground bullies and drive us further apart. They have driven us to the edge of a precipice where we now stand - with the spectre of Syria and Iran before us," he said. He added: "The question is not whether Saddam Hussein was good or bad or how many of his people he massacred. The point is that Mr Bush and Mr Blair should not have allowed themselves to stoop to his immoral level." Archbishop Tutu said the death toll as a result of military action in Iraq since 2003 was grounds for Mr Blair and Mr Bush to be tried in The Hague. But he said different standards appeared to be applied to Western leaders. He said: "On these grounds, alone, in a consistent world, those responsible should be treading the same path as some of their African and Asian peers who have been made to answer for their actions in The Hague." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Apparently the conference that Tutu snubbed Blair, Tutu was to be speaking for free.......Blair for £150k *-)................say's it all really >:-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antony1969 Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Gwendolyn - 2012-09-02 11:49 PM antony1969 - 2012-08-29 9:24 PM I still say those who voted for Blair should be named and egged and then deported . Then I trust that the Labour voters of the Sedgefield constituency have been given due notice of intent? Sedgefield ? , Its already been erased from the map and put down as a bad nightmare we all had . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 I see old Teflon Tony managed to have the records from the run up to the war buried for another 30 years *-)...........................That's probably why he wanted the Olympics so he could bury bad news ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teflon2 Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Bl00dy hell didn't realise my forum name associated me with Blair, out with the disinfectant and bleach, how do I change my forum name?. John :-S :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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