You must be kidding, Tony

For a very bright guy, Tony Blair does and says some very dumb things. In a major speech in New York, he had the following to say about Muslim extremists, "There is a tendency even now, even in some of our own circles, to believe that they are as they are because we have provoked them and if we left them alone they would leave us alone. I fear this is mistaken." Really, Tony? Let us assemble the evidence:

• The West supported the imposition of Israel on the Arab world, thereby solving a European problem in true colonial style by dumping it on the Third World. Israel, on its part, has ethnically cleansed Arabs by the hundreds of thousands and oppressed the remainder while busily stealing their land. The West, particularly the United States, persists in supporting Israel despite its rogue behaviour.
  
• In the 1950s, Britain and the United States destroyed the first Muslim democracy in the Middle East in Iran. Recently, Western nations, including to our shame Canada, conspired to crush the latest Middle Eastern Muslim democracy in Palestine.
• Not content with wrecking democracy, the West staunchly supports Middle Eastern dictators, including the dreadful Sauds of Arabia, a favourite of both Britain and the U.S. This support includes massive arms sales and military training.
• And, as if waging war in two Muslim countries wasn't enough, Western militarists like Blair and Bush, with Iran in their sights, seem to be gearing up for an attack on a third.
  

In the face of all this, Tony would have us believe the West hasn't provoked and doesn't continue to provoke Islam to extremism?

I suggest the evidence is irrefutable: the West is overwhelmingly responsible for Muslim extremism. I'm not a Muslim, I'm not even religious, in fact I'm an atheist, but even I get angry listening to Blair pontificate about the West's innocence. No wonder young Muslims in Britain go off the deep end.

During Blair's speech, attended by powerful men such as New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and media baron Rupert Murdoch, he received three standing ovations. Blair's blinkered view of the West's contribution to Third World rage clearly holds sway in very influential circles. This does not bode well for peace in the Middle East or justice for the Palestinians or, for that matter, dealing with violent hostility toward the West.