"It's an argument isn't it" (Tony Blair)

Here's Tony Blair reacting (about a week ago) to the news about Saddam Hussein's death sentence, reiterating essentially the general UK policy to oppose the execution of the death sentence, but taking it as a stark reminder of the atrocities committed under Saddam's regime. BBC News has a rather interesting analysis by a military historian on the options available for punishing awful crimes against humanity.

Most of the above video, however, sees Blair trying to answer a journalist's question as to the large number of British citizens disagreeing with the UK's Iraq policy, and finding US president George W. Bush a great danger to world peace. The underlying criticism is that the invasion of Iraq has made the world less rather than more safe. In this connection, it is interesting to note that in a rare public statement Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, head of the UK's Security Service (more widely known as MI5) has recently spoken out on the seriousness and extent of the terror threat in the UK. (Click the 'video and audio news' link from the last page to see video news coverage.) In the country that was shocked by bombings in its metro network in July 2005, such news is of course taken very seriously indeed. As a reminder, here is Tony Blair's address to the nation on that day, which was also the opening day of an important G8 summit:



P.S. As this entry shows, a source such as YouTube, widely used for entertainment purposes, can also be used for more serious purposes, such as posting important footage documenting recent historical events. Even extracts from Newsnight sometimes make it onto YouTube, such as this report covering Tony Blair's swan song speech at the Labour Party Conference in Manchester in September. Moving back into entertainment, however, many a playful montage featuring Blair and/or Bush has found its way onto YouTube. Here is one example, raising the question partly answered in the conference speech just mentioned, on when Blair will step down as Prime Minister: