What prevents the new British PM from saying Blair fecked up invading Iraq and we are out of there?

[NNN0LHI]

Any ideas?

My guess it starts with B and ends with P.

Don

[tnlurker]

1. My guess would be

The video Karl Rove made of him in compromising situations while he was a Camp David this past weekend.

[babylonsister]

2. I think that's happening behind the scenes; Brown's constituency will

be most angry if he doesn't get out of Iraq, and they've let that be known. Despite all the photo ops, I think Brown is inching away.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3416500&mesg_id=3416500

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. I was in England when the changeover happened

The most striking image on TV was families of military personnel killed in Iraq standing on the corner near #10 Downing Street booing Blair as he was driven away for the last time.

I didn't hear any,"We've got to stay, because my child died for a noble cause" types of rationalizations that I often hear over here.

Maybe the lack of fervor is due to the fact that there are still people alive in the UK who remember what it's like to be on the receiving end of a military attack.

[UKProPeace]

4. Brown's a tactician....

my own opinion is that from listening carefully to that press conference yesterday, Brown gave very strong indications that the 4th province British troops control in Iraq was close to being handed over to Iraqis...then he made it very clear that it was up to Britain alone to decide when to withdraw troops - a sharp difference from the messages which came from Blair....and also stated that recommendations would be made in parliament after the summer break.

I along with many others no doubt will be watching with interest to see whether the subtleties which I think were implied yesterday actually come to light, if not I will be deeply disappointed.

The difference between Brown and Blair do appear to lie in the subtleness of their message.....Brown always seems to be very careful, and more diplomatic in his wording...that's what confused Bush and his followers, and Brown knows it.

[LeftishBrit]

5. Agree fully!

[UKProPeace]

6. Has he been too subtle though?

Or maybe he has got it just right, when even some on the left haven't picked up on some of the subtleties, it seemed to come across clear enough to me that there was a coolness there.....perhaps it was intended to be too subtle for Bush and his supporters to really notice?

[KiraBS]

7. British media, know about Brown and subtly...

He has had years of practice, every speech he made was analysis by the British Media for what he was saying about Blair. Diplomacy meant that he could run the budget his way and that he could bid his time until he became PM. As someone that lives in London, I can say the tone is dramatically different because Gordon Brown is not a showman, we can forget that he is our Prime Minister.
The week Brown took over British troops were killed from is own constituency and we had failed terrorist attacks so he knows he is walking a dangerous line, but his thing seems to be diplomacy and tackling poverty. The other big story on British news yesterday was the suffering of the Iraqi people which did not reflect well on our presence in Iraq. A report from Oxfam revealed extreme poverty, since the removal of Saddam.
Watch what Gordon Brown says to the UN, that will tell you more about his view on Foreign Policy.

[UKProPeace]

9. Was watching his speech before

Once again, focus not at all on Iraq, he's definitely getting Britain out of that disaster....he's focusing on Darfur now, which our leaders should have been concentrating on much earlier. At least he's making an effort to address that humanitarian disaster, unlike his predecessor.

[KoKo]

8. kick ...good to hear these opinions n/t

[LSK]

10. they are already leaving

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. Brown was Blair's No. 2 for the whole 10 years Blair was PM

If he says Blair screwed up big time, Brown would have to say he went along with it all despite thinking it was wrong. Any changes he makes have to be subtle, and spinnable.

[UKProPeace]

12. It was interesting reading this article

From the Independent:
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2701305.ece

Some snippets:

"The plans to diminish the Treasury and appoint a "new Chancellor" demonstrate the depths to which the relationship had plummeted, and the extent of the distrust between the two men and their rival courts.

It was the lowest point of a steady deterioration that led to shouting matches, slamming doors and angry accusations - a situation that many in No 10 thought frustrated good government.

The tension was so palpable that Mr Blair's aides complained that they were treated like children in a dysfunctional relationship. Estelle Morris, the former education secretary, recently said that "the tension between them made decision-making impossible".

Tony Blair complained that Gordon Brown's influence over domestic policy had stifled many of his reforms. At the 2005 Labour conference, the Prime Minister said revealingly: "Every time I've ever introduced a reform in government, I wish in retrospect I had gone further." "

Brown actually prevented the Blairite reforms to go further to the right - Blair wanted more right wing policies, Brown prevented that happening.

And this on id cards, from the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/idcards/story/0,,2078091,00.html

"Jack Straw, now widely expected to replace John Reid as home secretary, signalled yesterday that the future of the £5.75bn national identity card scheme would be under review when Gordon Brown becomes prime minister next month.
Mr Straw, the leader of the Commons and Mr Brown's leadership campaign manager, has a long record of personal opposition within cabinet to a compulsory ID card scheme. Sources close to the chancellor, said Mr Brown believed the slimmed-down Home Office needed stability and "Jack is a heavyweight who can hit the ground running"."

As you say, any changes he implements will have to be subtle for diplomatic and strategical reasons, I think he's shown by his words, and his allies words so far that he did indeed disagree with a lot of what Blair said and did.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

13. The Brits Will Quietly Withdraw Without Purposefully Embarrassing The Americans...

Why should Britain burn a bridge to the United States when they don't need to...

"Nations don't have eternal friends but only eternal interests."