As I was very rude about Ian McEwan's oh-so literary account of the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, it's only fair to note that the novelist is in robust form in an interview with Der Spiegel:
SPIEGEL: But isn't the West providing the best advertisement for terrorist recruiters by being in Iraq and killing Islamic civilians, torturing Muslim prisoners a la Abu Ghraib and spreading pictures of the deeds around the world?
McEWAN: I don't think terror needs a breeding ground. I don't buy the arguments in the Iraq war. What keeps getting forgotten here is that the people committing massacres in Iraq right now belong to al-Qaida. We're witnessing a civil war that's taking place in Islam. The most breathtaking statement was the one of al-Qaida claiming responsibility for the London bombings saying it was in return for the massacre in Iraq. But the massacres in Iraq now are being conducted by al-Qaida against Muslims. I also think it's extraordinary the way in which we get morally selective in our outrages. When there was a rumor that someone at Guantanamo Bay had flushed a Koran down the lavatory, the pages in The Guardian almost caught fire with outrage, but only months before the Taliban had set fire to a mosque and destroyed 300 ancient Korans.
And here he is on the anti-war movement's second-favourite hate-figure, Tony Blair:
Two months ago, he was the villain. The day after he won the election, the press erupted in a furious, spiteful rage. It was incredible. You would think he'd just been found guilty of child murder. He'd been returned with a reduced majority, which I think was actually a perfectly mature, democratic decision. It was about right. There was no other game in town, there was no other party that could actually reasonably take power. The Tories couldn't do it.... I take a very unfashionable view of Tony Blair. I think he's the least bad prime minister we've had.
SPIEGEL: The least bad prime minister?
McEWAN:There have been gross mistakes, but for those who have nostalgia for old Labour, they must reflect on 30 percent inflation, 3 million were unemployed, public service was a total chaos, the government was constantly on its knees to the International Monetary Fund and there was a sense of real decline. Old Labour was a disaster, an absolute disaster.
Via Arthur Chrenkoff, who also offers a sneak preview of the UN's new terror warning system.
PEDANTIC PS: I know "McEwan" looks wrong in the heading, but for some reason I can't type a small "c" in the box. Typepad has been a bit off all day, in fact.