Putin The Boot In Tony Blair At G8

AFTER Wags, the Times introduces the Swags (“Summit wives and girlfriends).

While Laura Bush and Cherie Blair go larging it in St Petersburg, dancing on tables and ask the excited shop assistants if Faberge eggs come as necklaces and can be worn on the navel, the men, and Germany’s Angela Merkel (the sole female leader at the G8 conference) talk shop.

And the story dominating the conference is the Middle East. “Our message to Israel is defend yourself but be mindful of consequences, so we are urging restraint,” says George Bush, who gives his unequivocal support to the country under attack.

Tony Blair talks of “extremists backed by Iran and Syria, who want to disrupt the position in Lebanon and want to create a situation of tension and hostility there”.

And there’s Vladimir Putin of Russia. He says the extremists’ kidnapping of three kidnapped Israeli soldiers is “unacceptable” but argues against the “use of full-scale force in response”. Doubtless if Russia was being bombed by terrorists backed by foreign powers, he’d just send in half his county’s Army rather than all of it.

And then there is the Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He’s not at the G8 summit, but the Times still thinks it’s useful to hear what the loon has to say. “Hitler sought pretexts to attack other nations…The Zionist regime is seeking baseless pretexts to invade Islamic countries,” says he.

Mr Ahmadinejad is obsessed with the Second World War and Nazis. Problem is that in mentioning it in conjunction with Israel, he reminds the world how Jews have suffered in the past at the hands of murderous nutcases who want to wipe them out. And this is Ahmadinejad who wants to wipe Israel off the map. He needs a new line in vitriol.

The leaders of the G8 nations then break for lunch.

And when they reconvene, the Telegraph hears more from Mr Putin. A Telegraph reporter asks him about British criticism of Russia’s human rights record.

“There are also other questions, questions let’s say about the fight against corruption. We would be interested in hearing your experience, including how it applies to Lord Levy," comes the reply.

We live in a world where the leader of Russia, a man with plenty of domestic problems, can speak easily about the British Labour Party and cash-for-peerages.

And, in any case, he is only joking. While not famed for his sense of fun, Putin, apparently, is quite a wag (with a little ‘w’). "I think if you look through what [Mr Putin] says, he has a little joke for each and every leader – and we have not lost our sense of humour," said Tony Blair’s spokesman.

Whether the papers look at Mr Putin carefully enough is open to debate, because none of them hear him cracking gags about any of the other leaders, even Mrs Merkel, who presents an obvious target.

Then tea…

Posted: 17th, July 2006 | In: Uncategorized Comment | TrackBack | Permalink