Africa Stirred Blair's Conscience. He Still Failed It.

With his passionate denunciation of Africa's impoverishment in Africa as "a stain on the conscience of the world" right after September 11, 2001, Mr. Blair gave voice to one of the key strains in the global response to those awful attacks. Many were convinced then that despite the trauma and anger unleashed by the terrorists, the United States and its allies would recognize the need to propel the issue of mass poverty and injustice to the top of the international agenda in the interest of a more stable world.