Tony Blair has been a steadfast ally to the United States during the War on Terror. He clearly understand the stakes involved in the current battle between Islamism and Western civilization. But - like most Brits - he seems to have something of a blind spot when it comes to the Israeli-Arab conflict. In 2004 Blair was invited to Israel to boost relations between Britain and Israel, and then he violated international decorum (to say nothing of his guests' hospitality) by emphasizing the peace process. In 2005 Blair held a conference about Palestinian security and got Sharon to let some of the more mendacious Palestinians attend. Blair promised that under no circumstances would the conference include talks about Israeli territorial concessions or Palestinian diplomatic developments. That was a lie.

So Blair has a consistent pattern of willfully ignoring Israeli security concerns and diplomatic sensibilities, in favor of the thinnest of thin chances that the Palestinians will negotiate in good faith. All that apparently makes him the perfect guy for Bush to put in charge of the peace process:

Olmert apparently likes him though, so at least Barak knows that he's got a friend in the PM's office for another month or so. We think it makes perfect sense to appoint a Brit to make peace in Israel. After all, they did such a bang up job with the territory the last time they controlled it - what could go wrong?

References:
* Agenda for Palestinian Conference: Giant Gorilla What? [MR]
* What if You Threw a Peace Party and Everyone Showed Up? [MR]
* Bush expected to appoint Blair Quartet's Mideast envoy

Previously:
* Britain Joins Most Of Europe, Asia In Embracing Hamas
* Bibi: "This Is Not One Of Britain's Finest Hours" [Video]
* Britain Has the Highest Number Of Anti-Semitic Attacks In Europe: "Are You English Or A Jew"? [Video]