'Blair The Peacemaker' What?!?

Blair would have it that he brings to the table 'conflict resolution' from Northern Ireland. It was more to do with his predecessor, John Major but so what.

A new Obama era in the Middle East may or may not be imminent but it has a better chance of success without Blair in the key role as envoy for the Quartet comprising America, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.

In Arab eyes, Blair is associated with a series of disastrous policy decisions. He will forever be remembered as the junior partner in the US-led invasion of Iraq. While America has managed to salvage something from the war, with their propaganda about the surge and change in tactics, Britain's reputation as a military power and experienced player in the region will never recover.

Then there was Lebanon in 2006. Blair backed the Israeli offensive against Hezbollah, even after it was clear that the campaign was misdirected, that innocent Lebanese were caught up in the attack, that huge damage was being done to the country's infrastructure and that one of the few democratically elected Western-leaning governments in the Arab world was being undermined.'I won't indulge in the politics of condemnation' he said. What twaddle.

Partly as a result of his support for Bush, Blair had to resign last year but what is the sum total of his contribution as a US/Israeli stooge Peace Envoy. Little success has been made in persuading Israel to dismantle its checkpoints in the West Bank, a key factor in reviving the Palestinian economy. Also,the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank has continued uninterrupted. The situation in Gaza has steadily deteriorated. The coastal strip remains under Hamas control and now threatens to become a humanitarian emergency. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli right-wing opposition leader, is tipped to win elections scheduled for February with a far less compromising stand on talks with the Arabs. The joke in the region is that the only real beneficiary of Mr Blair's recent engagement with the Middle East is the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem, where he has established his offices.

In spite of all the setbacks, Blair until very recently kept up the Bush Administration's mantra that a final peace deal is possible by the end of 2008, when we were told a Palestinian state would be in place - a grotesque delusion/outright falsehood. There was never any chance of this happening, despite the grand declarations at the peace conference in Annapolis more than a year ago. Similarly, the timetable for peace set out under the “road map” was nonsense. Mr Bush was never prepared to do the heavy lifting required to make peace in the region, or to engage key states such as Syria and Iran. Blair shares huge responsibility for this failure. His reputation in the Arab world is permanently tarnished.

Finally, there are serious questions about how much time and effort Blair is prepared to devote to this issue. We are told that he has taken a job teaching at Yale University, is writing a book to be published next year, is a banking consultant and is actively promoting inter-faith dialogue, the environment, sports, and development in Africa. There are also strong hints that if a European presidency is ever created, Blair would sell what is left of his soul for the job.

The search for peace in the Middle East is not a part-time assignment and it needs someone who has the right connections in Washington and the capitals of the region, but can also approach the work with fresh thinking and a clean slate. It is the Holy Grail of international diplomacy. Blair may be a Crusader in the worst sense, but the Grail is well beyond his reach. He would fit better in the role of the Black Knight from the Monty Python Grail classic.