Tony Blair et sa longue bataille avec la désastreuse réalité

Autre rude combattant du virtualisme : le Britannique Tony Blair. De plus en plus en roues libres ces derniers temps. On sent qu’on prépare ses bagages. Alors, on se laisse aller à dire des choses.

Son interview à Al Jazeera, avec la fameuse question sur le “désastre” irakien, a fait des vagues. Le voici donc à la manœuvre. Tony Blair explique qu’en réalité il n’a pas dit ce qu’on a dit (et entendu) qu’il a dit, qu’en disant cela, c’était autre chose qu’il disait, que d’ailleurs il n’aurait pu dire ce qu’il a dit puisqu’il dit aujourd’hui que ce qu’on a cru qu’il disait hier, il ne le croit pas, — donc il ne le dit pas… OK?

Son porte-parole, lui, laisse entendre que Tony est un brave type, qui répond très vite, ingénument, à toutes les interviews, que sa langue fourche parfois et que, dans le cas considéré, effectivement, sa fourche a langué…

Voici, pour l’anecdote et pour le plaisir, et parce que bientôt nous n’aurons plus droit à ses exercices de virtuose — extrait de The Independent, l’habituel exercice d’assouplissement de la réalité du Premier ministre du Royaume-Uni.

«Gordon Brown was left defending Britain's presence in Iraq yesterday as Tony Blair denied he thought that the invasion had been a “disaster”. Interviewed on al-Jazeera on Friday, Mr Blair was asked if he thought that the military intervention had been “pretty much of a disaster”. “It has,” he replied, before blaming the difficulties on al-Qa'ida-inspired insurgents.

»But the Prime Minister's spokesman yesterday insisted that his apparent concession was a “straightforward slip of the tongue”. The fall-out from the gaffe overshadowed the Chancellor's first visit to Iraq, where he pledged £100m of reconstruction aid over the next three years. Mr Brown had hoped that his visit would reassure soldiers and the serving public that a government led by him will have a clear strategy to bring troops home from a stable Iraq.

»But attention was firmly focused on Mr Blair's remarks as the Prime Minister flew to Pakistan for an official visit. His spokesman told reporters travelling with him that Mr Blair did not, after all, agree that the invasion had been a disaster. “He doesn't think that a democratically-elected government in Iraq is a disaster; he doesn't think that getting rid of Saddam was a disaster, but he does acknowledge there are difficulties, and he doesn't try to downplay those.”

»The explanation left Opposition figures unimpressed. Sir Menzies Campbell, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “It tells you all you want to know about this government that No 10 has to indulge in semantics to explain away the Prime Minister's admission. ’Disaster’ is precisely how the vast majority of MPs and the British people regard the situation in Iraq. It is time to recognise reality and adopt a strategy that leads to a phased withdrawal.”»

Mis en ligne le 19 novembre 2006 à 09H08