The Moose once again praises the premier moral leader in the West.
These are difficult days for the British P.M. Tony Blair has low popularity and his time in office may be limited. However, at a time when courage in politics is at a premium, Tony Blair solidly continues to stand for principle.
In our public life, we often pay lip service to the value of sailing against the wind. But, unfortunately, too many leaders bend with the prevailing breeze. That tendency is particularly evident when it comes to the Iraq war. When it was politically popular to support the effort, many lefties signed up for the cause. Now, that it is tough going, these pols and pundits headed for the hills.
And courageous leaders like Blair are viciously slandered by Lilliputians who would rather see America and the West defeated than genuine progressives vindicated. Some of the the lefties who trumpet their own moral superiority increasingly find themselves objectively serving the interests of the Zarqawis who seek to drive us out of Iraq by weakening our will. They virtually celebrate every American setback while remaining mute in the face of the homicidal terror of the enemy. These are the same folks who lament the failure of America to intervene in Darfur, but would be just fine with leaving Iraq to become a ethnic cleansing mass killing field.
But not Tony. He realizes that it would be disastrous to abandon Iraq to the tender mercies of Zarqawi. Moreover, the British PM deeply understands that this is now the central battleground in the fight against the Jihadists - if we lose our will, we will reap the whirlwind for many decades to come.
The new stellar issue of Blueprint has a brilliant piece by Tony Blair. He writes about not only the stakes in Iraq, but also insightfully analyses the nature of the war against Jihiadism,
"This is not a clash between civilizations. It is a clash about civilization. It is the age-old battle between progress and reaction, between those who embrace and see opportunity in the modern world and those who reject its existence; between optimism and hope on the one hand, and pessimism and fear on the other."
Foolish retreat in the face of a movement which seeks to destroy all that liberals hold dear is not liberal and consistent strength in defending our civilization against fascist Jihadism is not conservative. Rather, Blairism is the essence of contemporary progressivism, properly understood.
The Moose makes a distinction between "left" and "progressive." Indeed, in this fight against radical Jihadism, some conservatives promote progressive international objectives while some liberals would capitulate to reaction most foul. And this is a moment of unusual bedfellows. When it comes to national security policy, the American Prospect and the American Conservative are kissing cousins.
The Moose suggests that Old Robert Taft could identify more with these Democratic lefties than could Harry Truman.
But thank God that we still have a few true progressives such as Tony Blair who remain in the good fight! -- | 
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