Tony Blair's days are numbered.

Tony Blair will step down in just a matter of days or weeks.  One can't help but wonder that being labeled "Bush's Poodle" and being complicit in one of the greatest military/political blunders in history played a major role in his demise. New documents are referenced by former British intelligence expert, Carne Ross in this:   Diplomat's suppressed document lays bare the lies behind Iraq war

Warnings to the Bush administration about regime change potentially causing Iraq to collapse into chaos went unheeded.  Suppression of the Downing Street Memos further pointed to attempts by Blair and Bush to build the case for the invasion of Iraq.

Jack Straw, the Leader of the Commons who was Foreign Secretary during the war - Mr Ross's boss - announced the Commons will have a debate on the possible change of strategy heralded by the Iraqi Study Group report.

Gordon Brown, a once close ally of Blair's, is the obvious successor.  Blair has been reluctant to step down but is feeling ever increasing pressure to do so because of the unpopularity of this war. Now, with new evidence indicating faulty intelligence and attempts to cover up the truth, there may be even more investigations.

•  Don't let the door knob hit you

  where the good Lord split you Poodle Boy.

  by Habanero on Sun May 06, 2007 at 06:35:03 PM PDT

  •  Tony Blairs Days are Numbered...

    ...and the number of the Poodle is 666.

    by Salo on Sun May 06, 2007 at 06:53:44 PM PDT

    •  Warning - Blair 1986 pic here :D

      http://www.backingblair.co.uk/...

      by Tigana on Sun May 06, 2007 at 07:39:17 PM PDT

  •  How egotistical

    to think that Blair's legacy only revolves around Americans' views of him. The UK is in a lot better shape than it was when Blair first took office: educationally, economically, environmentally.

    I'd say we ought to pay attention to our own glass house before throwing stones.

    by ChuyHChrist on Sun May 06, 2007 at 06:58:44 PM PDT

    •  I always looked at him...

      ...as far as FP goes, as a designated driver. He's your best mate who helps ou down after taking bad acid.

      It provided a huge amont of cover for him to pump a fortune into the NHS and other infrastructure spending. He goes along with a few wars and avoids the stupid crap Chirac had to put up with. Sure it cost a few dozen soldiers their lives but what difference does that make to the average member of the English public?  Similar numbers may have died in Northern Ireland or elsewhere, and they are soldiers after all. They took the Shilling. They may have been looking for a fight.  So What he did was make sure the US didn't go off the genocidal rails a la Vietnam and provide cover for increased public spending that finally brought us into line with France and Germany. Brown's been running the UK quite well, and I was impressed by the transformation since I left in 1993.

      Quite brilliant three card monte really.  He made empty threats about illegal immigrants, yobs and stuff like that sounded very right wing but acting very left wing at home.

      by Salo on Sun May 06, 2007 at 07:09:43 PM PDT

    •  Blair will have a legacy akin to LBJ

      Johnson started the Vietnam war, so he dosen't get credit for great work on civil rights.
      I lost respect for Blair's alignment with Bush in this mistake, but he's the guy who finnaly brought peace to  the North, did right by the Catholics, and set the stage for the IRA to finally disarm of their own free will. I'll always respect him for his work there.

      by McGirk on Sun May 06, 2007 at 08:04:30 PM PDT

      •  Johnson didn't start the Vietnam war

        The French did. It was going like Gangbusters during the JFK administration.

        Criticize LBJ's handling of Vietnam all you want, but please note that he DIDN'T START IT.

        by YoursTruly on Mon May 07, 2007 at 04:28:06 AM PDT

    •  Sorry...

      He, along with Colin Powell, put the air of legitimacy on this debacle.  I know did a lot of good for England, but his legacy is going to be Iraq.  The world needed a grown-up and got a sell-out.

      by RichM on Sun May 06, 2007 at 08:06:55 PM PDT

•  I'm quite fond of Tony Blair

  it will be sad to see him step down but all good things must eventually come to an end.

  by Pitias on Sun May 06, 2007 at 06:35:07 PM PDT

  •  He took the Labor Party

    down with him.

    by GW Chimpzilla on Sun May 06, 2007 at 07:19:41 PM PDT

    •  PMs tend to do that.

      occupational hazard.

      by Salo on Sun May 06, 2007 at 07:24:33 PM PDT

•  I find is so sad that

  another world leader is contaminated by the unwise
  decisions of Bush & Co.  Any comments???

  by moose67 on Sun May 06, 2007 at 06:35:32 PM PDT

•  Perhaps Gordon Brown will figure out what

  really happened to Dr. David Kelly!

  by Habanero on Sun May 06, 2007 at 06:36:38 PM PDT

  •  Thom Yorke already told us

    Harrowdown Hill

    Don't walk the plank like I did
    You will be dispensed with
    When you've become inconvenient
    In the harrowdown hill
    Where you went to school
    That's where I am
    That's where I'm lying down

    Did I fall or was I pushed?
    Did I fall or was I pushed?
    And where's the blood?
    And where's the blood?

    I'm coming home
    I'm coming home
    To make it all right
    So dry your eyes

    We think the same things at the same time
    We just cant do anything about it

    So don't ask me
    Ask the ministry
    Don't ask me
    Ask the ministry

    We think the same things at the same time
    There are so many of us
    So you can't count

    We think the same things at the same time
    There are too many of us
    So you can't count

    Can you see me when I'm running?
    Can you see me when I'm running?
    Away from them

    I can't take their pressure
    No one cares if you live or die
    They just want me gone
    They want me gone

    I'm coming home
    I'm coming home
    To make it all right
    So dry your eyes

    We think the same things at the same time
    We just cant do anything about it

    We think the same things at the same time
    There are too many of us
    So you can't count

    It was a slippery slippery slippery slope
    It was a slippery slippery slippery slope
    I feel me slipping in and out of consciousness
    I feel me slipping in and out of consciousness

    by eugene on Sun May 06, 2007 at 06:38:58 PM PDT

    •  I feel me slipping in and out of consciousness..

      Alas ...I be but a man searching for the ghoul that led me down this reckless path.

      by Habanero on Sun May 06, 2007 at 06:46:19 PM PDT

    •  I really enjoyed that record

      It sounds like it was really fun to record. Subject matter- not so much.

      by keirdubois on Sun May 06, 2007 at 07:53:08 PM PDT

•  About time

  Tony, you entered office 10 years ago with such high hopes. Then you had to go piss them all away with your support of this idiotic war. Now you leave Gordon Brown to clean up your mess, and you may have even let the odious Conservative Party back into power, depending on how things play out in 2009.

  Good riddance to bad rubbish.

  by eugene on Sun May 06, 2007 at 06:40:27 PM PDT

•  If it weren't for Iraq, Blair would be...

  ...remembered fondly for, among other things, having helped solve the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland in a fair and equitable manner, and for having presided over a major expansion of higher-education opportunities in the UK.

  By playing poodle to Bush, he really fucked up his legacy.

  by StupidAsshole on Sun May 06, 2007 at 06:46:35 PM PDT

  •  Yet he willingly entered into the

    Mephistophelean Bargain.

    by Habanero on Sun May 06, 2007 at 06:49:20 PM PDT

  •  Shit, I should have read downthread.

    Cause I just said the same thing. Blair's the first Brittish leader I've ever thought fondly of for that reason. Irish and English are finally getting along with each other. I grew up in Boston were there was tons of pro IRA sentiment and open fundraising in bars. Thanks to Blair, I never had to make the decision on supporting the cause, myself.

    by McGirk on Sun May 06, 2007 at 08:10:42 PM PDT

•  We have a Shrub he can take with him on the

  way out.

  by Mr SeeMore on Sun May 06, 2007 at 06:51:21 PM PDT

•  The REAL reason he's leaving....

  He PROMISED he would. He's been in TEN years, after all, and said at the very beginning that's all he would  stay in office.

  The only British prime ministers who left volantarily in the middle of a term were Baldwin, Churchill and Wilson...and Churchill was very, very old in 1955.

  Blair was one of Britian's great prime ministers when it came to domestic politics, and when it came to the constituion, was a genuine radical.

  He will be missed. Maybe not next month or next year, but soon, and forever more.

  by YoursTruly on Sun May 06, 2007 at 07:01:25 PM PDT

•  I hope Blair gets kicked out of office!

  The Labor party needs to drop him like a lead balloon!

  by bhouston79 on Sun May 06, 2007 at 07:03:36 PM PDT

•  Here's the numbers

  Approval ratings:

  Bush   28%
  Cheney  9%
  Blair   6%

  All three of them together are still a minority.

  by captainlaser on Sun May 06, 2007 at 07:10:36 PM PDT

  •  I think Woody said 80 percent of success

    is just showing up.

    by Churchill on Sun May 06, 2007 at 08:44:53 PM PDT

•  Another career ruined

  by association with Bush.  He is truly the reverse King Midas.

  by joanneleon on Sun May 06, 2007 at 07:21:00 PM PDT

  •  King Merdass.

    Everything turns to shit. Even the Golden Poodle of Islington.

    by Salo on Sun May 06, 2007 at 07:23:34 PM PDT

•  Wouldn't it be ironic if the Conservatives came

  back to power on an anti-war platform?

  by jiacinto on Sun May 06, 2007 at 07:32:00 PM PDT

  •  apocalyptic.

    not ironic.

    by Salo on Sun May 06, 2007 at 07:33:43 PM PDT

•  Whose aren't?

  And when Bush & Blair are gone, who're the new bogeymen?

  by valion on Sun May 06, 2007 at 07:45:06 PM PDT

•  Blair soon to be arrested for war crimes

  He will be on trail this year.  People in the European Union won't put up with his arrogance.  It's time to hold him accountable.  Bush will follow in a couple of years.

  by Churchill on Sun May 06, 2007 at 08:40:23 PM PDT

•  Howard the Coward's

  days are numbered too.

  by Demena on Sun May 06, 2007 at 09:41:24 PM PDT

•  Before Tony leaves...

  ...then I hope he will have the opportunity to initiate the passing around a hat in the House of Commons to collect donations toward the charity that provides rehabilitation to international war criminals.

  /almost snark

  by swarf on Mon May 07, 2007 at 02:19:41 AM PDT