Tony Blair: Going Over the Top

Tony Blair is going hyper:-

Mideast talks critical, Blair says; Israeli-Palestinian conflict key to stability in entire region

It is "desperately urgent" to put the Middle East peace process back on the rails by the end of this year, says former British prime minister Tony Blair.

And, says Blair, Mideast envoy for the countries trying to mediate an Israeli-Palestinian settlement, if the window of opportunity is closed, effects of the decades-old struggle will ripple outward destructively to the rest of the world.

Cataclysmic, no?

..."If people end up thinking it's hopeless, the consequences will affect the security of the entire world," Blair said yesterday in an interview with the Star, at the Multi-Faith Centre at the University of Toronto.

"I don't think anyone should doubt the fragility of that region, and the wider region of Afghanistan, Pakistan and North Africa.

"This is a global challenge we have to take on – and of which the Israel-Palestine question is a major part."

Wait, there, Tony.

Who makes it a global affair? Who threatens oil crisis? Who attacks the Twin Towers to get at the Big Satan (USA) and the Little Satan (Israel)?

Is it Israel's fault or are the Muslims exploiting a local dispute, of which there are examples of dozens around the globe?

Are you, too, falling for the bluster?

..."My conversations with Netanyahu over a long period of time (show) that if the context for Palestinian statehood is right, and the state would be a secure one, he would agree," Blair said.

...Blair has maintained that Gaza must be included in any peace settlement, and the lot of its people must be improved.

He has also called for talks with Hamas, if it is willing to accept the existence of Israel as part of a two-state solution.

But he said "the West Bank is five-sixths of the territory, and two-thirds of the population. If we make progress in the West Bank, and there are some (better) prospects for Gaza, the momentum for peace will be strong."

Although territory is a large part of the struggle between Israelis and Palestinians, Blair said, "religious faith is the most important question that will determine security in that part of the world, and in (our) part of the world in the 21st century."

If religious faith is most important, don't we go back to the Bible?

I feel more comfortable now, I think.