I read Tony Blair's defense of himself and country at the same time that Queen Elizabeth bestowed a knighthood on Salman Rushdie. My first thought was that it was a terrible decision, that the fatwa would be reprised calling for the murder of Rushdie. But that was a craven response to bullying, an internal self-censorship. We can't start basing literary awards on how thuggish certain Muslims will react. No award to a "fallen away Muslim" will be applauded by the madmen.
Tony Blair knows the power of a strong offense, and he understands that the brute power of violence plays well in the propaganda war. Islamist terrorism in a Madrid railroad station three days before Spain's parliamentary elections in 2004 changed the dynamics of the election -- and changed the government. The Spanish voters threw Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar out of office for joining George Bush's "coalition of the willing," holding the PM personally responsible for the terrorist retaliation. Spain quickly dropped out of the coalition.
Tony Blair is right to acknowledge that the terrorists have warped the thinking in the West, and right to warn against the coward's impulse that "makes us blame ourselves." He calls this a "dulling of the senses," creating a strong public demand to withdraw from Iraq. Who gets blamed for the lack of progress in the Palestinian problem? Inevitably, the West. When the crisis in Lebanon is provoked by these same malignant forces, who gets the blame? Inevitably, Israel.
He stresses the crucial importance of fighting the terrorist menace wherever it threatens us, and argues that the West must do better in making Western values more accessible to the darker regions of the world. "But this won't happen unless we stand up for our own values, are proud of them and advocate them with conviction." Hear, Hear. We'll miss you, Mr. Blair.