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Rough Music: Blair, Bombs, Baghdad, London, Terror
On July 7, 2005, the murderous mayhem that Blair’s war has sown in Iraq came home to London in a devastating series of suicide bombings. Two weeks later, with apparent impunity, security forces shot dead a young Brazilian electrician on his way to work.
Rough Music is Tariq Ali’s riveting response to these events.
He lays bare the vengeful platitudes of Blair’s war on civil liberties, mounts a scorching attack on the cozy falsehoods of the government’s “consensus” on what the threat amounts to and how to respond, and denounces the corruption of the political-media bubble which allows it to go unchallenged. Finally, invoking the perseverance and integrity of the great dissenters of the past, he calls for political resistance, within parliament and without.
Rough Music is Tariq Ali’s riveting response to these events.
He lays bare the vengeful platitudes of Blair’s war on civil liberties, mounts a scorching attack on the cozy falsehoods of the government’s “consensus” on what the threat amounts to and how to respond, and denounces the corruption of the political-media bubble which allows it to go unchallenged. Finally, invoking the perseverance and integrity of the great dissenters of the past, he calls for political resistance, within parliament and without.
- GenresNonfictionEssaysPolitics
104 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
2 people are currently reading
153 people want to read
About the author
Tariq Ali
137 books809 followersTariq Ali (Punjabi, Urdu: طارق علی) is a British-Pakistani historian, novelist, filmmaker, political campaigner, and commentator. He is a member of the editorial committee of the New Left Review and Sin Permiso, and regularly contributes to The Guardian, CounterPunch, and the London Review of Books.
He is the author of several books, including Can Pakistan Survive? The Death of a State (1991) , Pirates Of The Caribbean: Axis Of Hope (2006), Conversations with Edward Said (2005), Bush in Babylon (2003), and Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads and Modernity (2002), A Banker for All Seasons (2007) and the recently published The Duel (2008).
He is the author of several books, including Can Pakistan Survive? The Death of a State (1991) , Pirates Of The Caribbean: Axis Of Hope (2006), Conversations with Edward Said (2005), Bush in Babylon (2003), and Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads and Modernity (2002), A Banker for All Seasons (2007) and the recently published The Duel (2008).
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 20, 2016
This oddly titled book is a collection of political commentaries written in the aftermath of London bombings of July 7 2005. It covers British politics and media coverage of “War on Terrorism” around that time.
It particularly discusses Britain’s role in the build up to the Iraq war. A leaked secret memo from 10 Downing Street made it clear even before 2005 that, as we know now, the dossier justifying the invasion of Iraq was known to be full of lies. The author contends that Tony Blair had already decided to back George Bush on Iraq, and only after having decided on that he (Blair) looked for evidence to justify his policy.
The US and UK devised two schemes to justify Iraq war. First, they decided to trap Saddam through UN arms inspectors. They hoped that Saddam would refuse and that would provide a justification for the war but Saddam played a shrewd hand and circumvented the plan. Later on, lies about WMD were prepared, a big media hype was created and finally the invasion of Iraq was proceeded with.
The highlight of the book is in the detailed account of Blair government’s spat with the BBC. The BBC is often criticised for its uncritical war coverage in Iraq and its conformist approach toward government’s policy. This became true only after the ouster of the the Director General of the BBC, one courageous Greg Dyke, was engineered by Blair’s spin doctors.
A BBC journalist named Gilligan under Dyke’s instructions interviewed the UN weapons inspector David Kelly who informed the BBC that the evidence for the war in Iraq was completely made up. Later, David Kelly was found killed. His death was considered a suicide but something was amiss. This led to a big controversy which resulted into an inquiry led by Lord Hutton.
To cut long story short, the author argues, that it was Tony Blair and his chief spin doctor, Alistair Campbell, who made sure BBC is censured and its top positions filled with toadies who wouldn’t be critical of the government’s policies toward the Bush doctrine of war.
There is another long article that provides a detailed analysis of the role British media played in the run up to the war. It’s worth reading. There is another article about Britain’s current “first-past-the-pole” electoral system, which he calls “unrepresentative” system of a “representative” democracy.
One example of the system in place in the UK comes from 2005 general elections. Labour in that election got a mere 35% of the popular vote. Given the nature of the system, since all other parties got fewer votes than Labour, the later was to form the government and continue with its policies even though in real democratic terms Labour was unpopular with the majority of British voters.
The author argues for a change in the British electoral system towards more representative and accountable governance than this system currently produces.
It particularly discusses Britain’s role in the build up to the Iraq war. A leaked secret memo from 10 Downing Street made it clear even before 2005 that, as we know now, the dossier justifying the invasion of Iraq was known to be full of lies. The author contends that Tony Blair had already decided to back George Bush on Iraq, and only after having decided on that he (Blair) looked for evidence to justify his policy.
The US and UK devised two schemes to justify Iraq war. First, they decided to trap Saddam through UN arms inspectors. They hoped that Saddam would refuse and that would provide a justification for the war but Saddam played a shrewd hand and circumvented the plan. Later on, lies about WMD were prepared, a big media hype was created and finally the invasion of Iraq was proceeded with.
The highlight of the book is in the detailed account of Blair government’s spat with the BBC. The BBC is often criticised for its uncritical war coverage in Iraq and its conformist approach toward government’s policy. This became true only after the ouster of the the Director General of the BBC, one courageous Greg Dyke, was engineered by Blair’s spin doctors.
A BBC journalist named Gilligan under Dyke’s instructions interviewed the UN weapons inspector David Kelly who informed the BBC that the evidence for the war in Iraq was completely made up. Later, David Kelly was found killed. His death was considered a suicide but something was amiss. This led to a big controversy which resulted into an inquiry led by Lord Hutton.
To cut long story short, the author argues, that it was Tony Blair and his chief spin doctor, Alistair Campbell, who made sure BBC is censured and its top positions filled with toadies who wouldn’t be critical of the government’s policies toward the Bush doctrine of war.
There is another long article that provides a detailed analysis of the role British media played in the run up to the war. It’s worth reading. There is another article about Britain’s current “first-past-the-pole” electoral system, which he calls “unrepresentative” system of a “representative” democracy.
One example of the system in place in the UK comes from 2005 general elections. Labour in that election got a mere 35% of the popular vote. Given the nature of the system, since all other parties got fewer votes than Labour, the later was to form the government and continue with its policies even though in real democratic terms Labour was unpopular with the majority of British voters.
The author argues for a change in the British electoral system towards more representative and accountable governance than this system currently produces.
December 18, 2013
ROUGHING UP TONY
Tariq Ali's short collection of critical essays (or as he calls them "Rough Music") on Tony Blair starts of with the historian E.P.Thompson's definition of that term:
"Rough Music is the term which has been generally used in England since the end of the seventeenth century to denote a rude cacophony, with out without more elaborate ritual, which usually directed mockery or hostility against individuals who offend against certain community norms." (from "Customs in Common").
The essays are (1) What Makes Blair Run - "Blair is a natural pander, and he will always make up to those richer and more powerful than he is."
(2) Grammar of Deceit - "Across the advanced capitalist world the neo-liberal model has atomized social and political life, weakened democratic accountability and drastically reduced the margins of reformist possibilities within the system."
(3) The Media Cycle - "The diversity fostered by Blair and Howard [Australian pro-war PM] is well illustrated by the 247 editors in [Rupert] Murdoch's pay in different parts of the globe: each and every one of them supported the war in Iraq"
(4) Days of July - ". . . Blair and his toadies should be forced to confront what is now a widely held view across the political divide: the central British role in the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and, more broadly, Britain's unquestioning support for the US-Israeli war drive in the Middle East and across central Eurasia, has blown back in the shape of the London terrorist attacks."
(5) A Public Execution - "The execution itself was brutal. The shooters boarded the train and started firing even though Menezes had not offered any resistance as he was grabbed and pinioned by the surveillance team . . . eleven bullets were pumped into the target."
(6) The War Against Civil Liberties - "Blair had been angered, a few months previously, by as statement from Lord Hoffmann, one of Britain's senior judges, who stated bluntly that the laws been proposed by the government to curb civil liberties would inflict more damage to the fabric of British society than terrorism."
The "Rough Music" directed at Blair is sharp and to the point and acts as a valuable reminder - if his last Fridays appearance before the Iraq Inquiry wasn't enough - of what a damaging individual Tony Blair was for the British people, British democracy not to mention the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. As appendices it includes the infamous Downing Street memo as well as Tony Blair's speech on measures against [sic] terrorism.
Tariq Ali's short collection of critical essays (or as he calls them "Rough Music") on Tony Blair starts of with the historian E.P.Thompson's definition of that term:
"Rough Music is the term which has been generally used in England since the end of the seventeenth century to denote a rude cacophony, with out without more elaborate ritual, which usually directed mockery or hostility against individuals who offend against certain community norms." (from "Customs in Common").
The essays are (1) What Makes Blair Run - "Blair is a natural pander, and he will always make up to those richer and more powerful than he is."
(2) Grammar of Deceit - "Across the advanced capitalist world the neo-liberal model has atomized social and political life, weakened democratic accountability and drastically reduced the margins of reformist possibilities within the system."
(3) The Media Cycle - "The diversity fostered by Blair and Howard [Australian pro-war PM] is well illustrated by the 247 editors in [Rupert] Murdoch's pay in different parts of the globe: each and every one of them supported the war in Iraq"
(4) Days of July - ". . . Blair and his toadies should be forced to confront what is now a widely held view across the political divide: the central British role in the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and, more broadly, Britain's unquestioning support for the US-Israeli war drive in the Middle East and across central Eurasia, has blown back in the shape of the London terrorist attacks."
(5) A Public Execution - "The execution itself was brutal. The shooters boarded the train and started firing even though Menezes had not offered any resistance as he was grabbed and pinioned by the surveillance team . . . eleven bullets were pumped into the target."
(6) The War Against Civil Liberties - "Blair had been angered, a few months previously, by as statement from Lord Hoffmann, one of Britain's senior judges, who stated bluntly that the laws been proposed by the government to curb civil liberties would inflict more damage to the fabric of British society than terrorism."
The "Rough Music" directed at Blair is sharp and to the point and acts as a valuable reminder - if his last Fridays appearance before the Iraq Inquiry wasn't enough - of what a damaging individual Tony Blair was for the British people, British democracy not to mention the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. As appendices it includes the infamous Downing Street memo as well as Tony Blair's speech on measures against [sic] terrorism.
July 15, 2021
Fantastic book. Lays bare the real agendas of the Blair government, neoliberalism, the Iraq war, the war on terror and the American administrations of Clinton and Bush-Cheney.
Very enlightening and I was shocked at how much of the content I had never heard before. A must read for anyone wanting to know the truth of British involvement in the Iraq war, and the lies fed to the general public in order to justify it. A fantastic polemic against tony blair, colonialism/imperialism and the new economic order of neoliberalism that places importance on privatisation and not on helping real people.
Very enlightening and I was shocked at how much of the content I had never heard before. A must read for anyone wanting to know the truth of British involvement in the Iraq war, and the lies fed to the general public in order to justify it. A fantastic polemic against tony blair, colonialism/imperialism and the new economic order of neoliberalism that places importance on privatisation and not on helping real people.
March 11, 2010
Only 100 pages but packed with comment from a left-wing perspective never allowed exposure in our supine media. Tariq condemns Britain's attacks on Iraq & Afghanistan blaming these for the retaliatory bombings in London.
He is concerned about the growth in religious schools and the Government's lock-step with the policies of the USA. The debasement of our civil liberties in the State's battle to prevent terrorist attacks calls into question the type of country we wish to live in. He argues it was SAS soldiers who assassinated poor Jean Charles de Menezes in Stockwell tube station. What price democracy?
Well written, incisive and a joy to read views forbidden in the establishment media.
He is concerned about the growth in religious schools and the Government's lock-step with the policies of the USA. The debasement of our civil liberties in the State's battle to prevent terrorist attacks calls into question the type of country we wish to live in. He argues it was SAS soldiers who assassinated poor Jean Charles de Menezes in Stockwell tube station. What price democracy?
Well written, incisive and a joy to read views forbidden in the establishment media.
July 29, 2020
Reading this book now...so much makes sense and our civic responsibilities come back to haunt us. The seeds of today’s descent to oligarchy and double speak were sown more than two decades ago, if only we had been awake...read without political prejudice or affiliation, just with a genuine concern for our democratic society...you don’t even have to agree with him.
January 24, 2016
A clean case of how governments and media houses control and manipulate the truth and use it to their own advantage and more importantly how rights of common men are usurped by those who claim to represent us.
September 17, 2023
A good case study on the treatment by the Blair government, mainstream media and police institution of the Iraq war and the aftermath of the 7/7 bombings. Written in 2005, Ali is highly critical of them all, and does not hide this at any point. This book is quite short, but concisely touches on the issues of the political structures in the UK and the deficiencies of anti-terror legislation and UK foreign policy that was put in place. I thought this was a good introduction to the topic, and still highly relevant to 2023.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews