Blair Admits Friction in
Bush Relationship
Tue Jul 6, 6:30 PM ET
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By ED JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer
LONDON - Facing hostile questioning in parliament, Prime Minister
Tony Blair (news - web sites) acknowledged on Tuesday some friction in
his close relationship with President Bush (news - web sites) and the
political problems the friendship causes at home.
Blair used his sharpest language yet in the
long-standing disagreement over the Bush
administration's detentions at the U.S. Navy
(news - web sites) base in Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba, saying they "must end." And the
British leader said it was likely weapons of
mass destruction may never be found in Iraq
(news - web sites).
"I have to accept that we have not found them, that we may not find
them," Blair told the House of Commons Liaison Committee. "We do not
know what has happened to them. They could have been removed, they
could have been hidden, they could have been destroyed."
Blair rejected any suggestion that the stockpiles never existed and that
Saddam had not been a danger to the world.
"To go to the opposite extreme and say therefore no threat existed from
Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) would be a mistake," he said.
During a two-and-a-half hour session before a House of Commons
committee, Blair was grilled about his relationship with Bush, and he
defended the alliance in the war against terror, insisting it was in Britain's
best interest.
"I am not daft about the politics of it. I can see, particularly in my own
political family, it is a problem from time to time," said Blair, who has
faced intense criticism within his Labour Party over the Iraq war.
"I don't think this country should ever let itself be ashamed of its
relationship with the United States of America or believe that Britain is
America's poodle."
Blair acknowledged two key differences with Bush: Washington's refusal
to sign the Kyoto protocol on climate change; and the detention of four
Britons at Guantanamo Bay.
"Guantanamo Bay is an anomaly that at some point has got to be
brought to an end," Blair said.
But, he said, the United States is not unreasonable in detaining people it
considers a security threat. And he said dialogue would continue on
global warming.
Blair also suggested the U.S. position was softening on the Kyoto
protocol, and that Washington now accepted the scientific arguments.
"I do not think we should give up on the dialogue with the United States,"
the prime minister said. "I think they accept the science. The question is
what do you do about it? That is in itself a significant change that we
need to build upon."
Blair has said global warming will be a key issue when Britain chairs the
Group of Eight summit next year. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol (news - web
sites), reached at an international meeting in Japan, sets the target of
bringing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases
worldwide eight percent below the 1990 level by 2010.
The line of questioning, from all parties, betrayed the deep unease
among many Britons who feel their government slavishly follows U.S.
foreign policy without exerting real influence.
"Surely we, the country, have a right to know, where we have gone to
war, where you have put yourself shoulder to shoulder with the
Americans ... what we are getting in return?" asked Conservative
lawmaker Edward Leigh.
It's widely assumed in Britain that Blair backed Bush over Iraq in return
for a pledge that Washington would push harder for peace in the Middle
East. A road map peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians put forward
by Bush last year has largely stalled.
"Hasn't he let you down? Has he delivered his side of the
bargain to you, given all the political capital you have
expended in his behalf?" asked Leigh, referring to Blair's
slump in opinion polls since the war.
At times exasperated, Blair denied it was a "quid pro quo"
relationship in which "every so often they throw us a scrap."
Opinion polls show a majority of Britons dislike the U.S.
president and disapprove of Blair's close relationship with
him.
Fearing Britain is mired in a conflict in Iraq over which it has
no control, several lawmakers have called on Blair to
distance himself from Washington, or at least demonstrate
influence he bring to the relationship.
Blair suggested on Tuesday he had encouraged Bush to
engage the United Nations (news - web sites) instead of
acting unilaterally after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
He also said Britain had "played a constructive part" in the
decision to transfer full sovereignty to an interim Iraqi
government and build up Iraqi security forces instead of the
"option of a dramatic increase in foreign troops." |
