NBC's Williams: Fmr. British PM Tony Blair 'May Never Recover' from Being Bush's 'Poodle' on Iraq War
In an interview with British Prime Minister David Cameron aired on
Wednesday's NBC Ro
ck Center, Nightly News anchor Brian Williams
cautioned Cameron about one of his predecessors: "You'll
concede, Prime Minister Blair may never recover from that label that was
attached to him. Someone used the word 'poodle' to describe his
relationship with President Bush as the march to war [in Iraq]
continued."
Moments earlier, Williams touted Cameron's criticism of the Iraq war:
"Cameron, whose wife was in New York on 9/11, gave a speech in '06
criticizing the Iraq war, in which he said, 'Democracy cannot quickly be
imposed from the outside. Liberty grows from the ground. It cannot be
dropped from the air by an unmanned drone.'"
Williams bizarrely set up the topic by citing the 2003 movie "Love Actually":
"There is a great speech – Hugh Grant playing your role and Billy Bob
Thorton playing the visiting American president – in which they talk
about the special relationship and how it covers all manner of sins."
A clip of the scene in question was played, in which Grant's character
lectures: "I fear that this has become a bad relationship. A
relationship based on the President taking exactly what he wants, and
casually ignoring all those things that really matter to Britain."
Cameron rejected the notion from Williams that the Britain should be
antagonistic to America: "I don't buy the theory that the British people
somehow want their prime minister to be standoffish with the Americans.
Yes, they want you to stand up for what matters for your country, if
you have differences and you have disagreements. Air them, discuss
them....But people don't want you to be standoffish. They want this
relationship to be living, breathing and close."
Here is a transcript of the exchange aired on March 14:
10:06PM ET
(...)
BRIAN WILLIAMS: And you can't be in this structure and not think of "Love Actually"
[CLIP OF HUGH GRANT DANCING IN LOVE ACTUALLY]
DAVID CAMERON: I promise I haven't run and danced through here and sung.
WILLIAMS: I was just going to say, Hugh Grant seemed to have more fun
than you're having while he – of course, he was a young, single prime
minister.
CAMERON: Yeah, it's a remarkable film. I live in a flat just next door...
WILLIAMS: Next door.
CAMERON: ...and I can sing and dance all I like in there. But not, not in here.
WILLIAMS: There is a great speech – Hugh Grant playing your role and
Billy Bob Thorton playing the visiting American president – in which
they talk about the special relationship and how it covers all manner of
sins.
HUGH GRANT [IN LOVE ACTUALLY]: It covers all manner of sins, doesn't
it? I fear that this has become a bad relationship. A relationship based
on the President taking exactly what he wants, and casually ignoring
all those things that really matter to Britain.
WILLIAMS: And the truth is, it hasn't always been that special. Is it
special now? Is this a good time for the special relationship?
CAMERON: I believe it is. But I would take issue that I think it has
been very special over the last few decades. Obviously, it's had
highlights, whether Reagan and Thatcher or – you know, one can pick out
those highlights. But the real nature of it is not just that the
individuals have tried to get on and have a good relationship, as I have
with President Obama, the real nature of the special relationship is
the fact that we share the same interests.
WILLIAMS: But not always. Cameron, whose wife was in New York on 9/11,
gave a speech in '06 criticizing the Iraq war, in which he said,
"Democracy cannot quickly be imposed from the outside. Liberty grows
from the ground. It cannot be dropped from the air by an unmanned
drone." And not unlike the plot of the movie, the real-life Cameron has
privately telegraphed the fact that on some issues there will be more
distance between the U.S. and the UK, which was not the case a few years
back.
You'll concede, Prime Minister Blair may never recover from that label
that was attached to him. Someone used the word "poodle" to describe his
relationship with President Bush as the march to war continued. You
don't get to pick the American president who you serve with. The
American president doesn't get to pick the British prime minister.
Ideally, the relationship works. And world events go along.
CAMERON: The British people want their prime minister to mean something
and work with others on the world stage and get things done. So I don't
buy the theory that the British people somehow want their prime
minister to be standoffish with the Americans. Yes, they want you to
stand up for what matters for your country, if you have differences and
you have disagreements. Air them, discuss them. That's exactly what
Barack and I would do. But people don't want you to be standoffish. They
want this relationship to be living, breathing and close.
(...)
-- Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow Kyle Drennen on Twitter.
