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Sunday, Dec 13 2009
A dedicated foe of tyranny… until there’s a £90k speaking fee up for grabs

By Peter Hitchens
Last updated at 9:18 PM on 12th December 2009

Tony Blair

Money machine: Tony Blair, by a card spelling his name as ‘Toni
Bleyer’, talks to the media in Baku, Azerbaijan

Is there any way this country can officially disown Anthony Blair?

Those of us who were never fooled by him now have to watch as he
cashes in on his time as Prime Minister in ways which are actually
shaming.

His dishonesty, his lack of embarrassment and his greed are all so
great that it is now possible to imagine him ending up munching gonads
on I’m A Celebrity, perhaps trying to restore his fortunes after yet
another failed property speculation.

Or singing My Way on a talent show.

I am not sure whether to be furious or to laugh at this dark farce. I

met Mr Blair before he was famous and concluded that he was an
empty-headed soap actor, chosen by the Labour Party to be the
plausible front-man for its slow-motion coup d’etat.

Then I had to watch the ludicrous transformation of this man, who to
my personal knowledge did not know in 1997 that they spoke Portuguese
in Brazil, into a supposed World Statesman, the victor of Kosovo and
the scourge of Saddam.

These two wars, one dubious, the other indefensible, were conducted on
the basis that Mr Blair is a dedicated foe of tyranny. Quite a lot of
people still believe this piffle.

But how can they now, after Mr Blair’s trip to Azerbaijan, there to
open a formaldehyde factory?

The speech which he gave was such concentrated, congealed drivel that
it probably had to be carried into and out of the room in a spittoon.

You may read it in full on the web.

That is not all. Far worse than this piece of prostitution (he is said
to have been paid £90,000 for his appearance) is the fact that he
consorted, while in this sinister little country, with its President,
Ilham Aliyev.

Like Mr Blair, I have been to Azerbaijan. Unlike him, I met opposition
politicians and heard about its miserable history of censorship,
repression and despotism.

President Aliyev, like Kim Jong Il, inherited his job from his father,
the late KGB General Heydar Aliyev.

And Heydar Aliyev inherited his job from the Kremlin, which installed
him as ruler of Azerbaijan when it was a Soviet province.

Opponents of the current President Aliyev get beaten up or imprisoned.

There are reliable reports of torture, including threats to humiliate
female relatives of political prisoners. Protesting demonstrators
sometimes end up clubbed to death.

He `won’ his last election with a comically unlikely 87 per cent of the vote.

Well, there is an old argument which says that if such people control
big oil supplies, we pass over their faults for the sake of our
economy.

But that is an argument Mr Blair, and his few remaining defenders,
simply cannot make – because they all claim to have been so outraged
by Saddam Hussein’s tyranny that even his oil couldn’t save him.

So I think we can conclude from this well-rewarded little visit that
Mr Blair’s outrage against Saddam was as false as it looked.

In which case, what is there left of this person that is worth a
farthing, let alone £90,000?