Bliar: Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood…

So Tony “no mates” Bliar has been really, really, did I say really, working for a ceasefire in Lebanon? His position is that he wants a ceasefire but the qualification is that Hizbullah has to disarm. But poor old misunderstood Bliar has incurred the wrath of his own backbenchers and even "flaky but proportionate" Beckett is getting a bit hot under the collar. I mean, it must be bad as Ann Clwyd said feelings were running high over Lebanon. And even old Jack "wet" Straw has entered the fray. Oh but this certainly won’t impinge upon Bliar's summer holiday where he can relax in the knowledge that “2 shags” Prescott will be in charge.

In the press conference today Blair argued: "The only people who are engaged in a war, voluntarily, are those people that committed the atrocities of 7/7 here, September 11 of 11/3 in Madrid and in countless other Arab and Muslim countries."

What about people who start a war on no "evdence" to do with weapons of mass destruction?What about imperialism? What about colonalism? What about Zionism?

Funny how Blair is letting the Israeli state off the hook as all the emphasis is put on Hizbollah to stop the attacks and on the BBC news the other night, Bliar mentioned Islam but failed to utter any condemnation of Zionism. Disproportionate? You bet! But maybe one of the reasons Bliar isn’t swift in his condemnation maybe something to do with New Labour approving the sale of arms to the Israeli state. The goodies include, “thumb cuffs” and “wall cuff” used in torture. New Labour approved of £22.5m worth of arms-related exports to Israel, almost twice the amount in 2004, this includes display units for US F-16s, which are bombing the crap out of Lebanon and Gaza.

Guidelines say export licences would not be agreed if there was a “clear risk” they might be used for internal repression or would “provoke or prolong armed conflict”. So New Labour is in breach of its own guidelines...!

As Roger Berry argues in reference to Israel: “if the guidelines do not apply in those circumstances where do they apply”?

And Phil Shiner, Public Interest Lawyers, has written to Margaret Beckett threatening legal action unless she bans the supply of British military equipment to Israel. And now with the fact the US have been using British airfields to carry bombs to Israel has also caused potential legal action.

The bombardment of Lebanon is still ongoing with early morning strikes on Beirut and Gaza killing countless people. Does Bliar feel a true sense of pride that the display units for US F-16s will read Made in Britain?