Tony Blair is not gloating. He could - but he prefers to appear magnanimous in what he hopes is victory. In our Guardian interview yesterday, he was handed a perfect opportunity to crow. He was talking about what he called "the ripple of change" now spreading through the Middle East, the slow, but noticeable movement towards democracy in a region where that commodity has long been in short supply. I asked him whether the stone in the water that had caused this ripple was the regime change in Iraq.
He could have said yes, insisting that events had therefore proved him right and the opponents of the 2003 war badly wrong. But he did not. ...
Freedland understands that "it cannot be escaped: the US-led invasion of Iraq has changed the calculus in the region," and that "this leaves opponents of the Iraq war in a tricky position". He offers some sobering advice for the Left, and warns against "opposing democracy in the Middle East simply because Bush and Blair are calling for it." Read the whole thing at the link. Hat tip: The Corner.
