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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: T L Comiskey who wrote (42854)	4/16/2004 8:40:09 AM
From: T L Comiskey	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

news.bbc.co.uk Blair urged to be 'blunt' on Iraq Mr Bush 'needs the photo opportunity' with Mr Blair, says Cook UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is being urged to make US President Bush "listen" to growing concerns about American tactics in Iraq. The two leaders will meet on Friday after Mr Blair said he was seeking a new UN resolution to ensure the handover of power in Iraq on 30 June. Ex-Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said Mr Blair needed to tell Mr Bush "bluntly" he was pursuing the wrong policies. "President Bush owes it to him to listen today," Mr Cook told the BBC. US forces inside Iraq have got to stop approaching the country as if they are still waging a war Robin Cook Analysis: Blair's hard sell on Iraq Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy also urged the prime minister to express the widespread international disquiet over America's use of force in Iraq. Mr Cook said Mr Blair would be a "false friend" if he "doesn't fairly bluntly put it to President Bush that he is pursuing policies in Iraq that are going to get us into increasing difficulty there". The PM had "put a lot of his political capital on the line to support that relationship". 'Restraint' needed "After all, Tony does go to the White House at a time when President Bush is actually rather weak in the polls - he needs the photo opportunity with Tony Blair," Mr Cook told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "Before we give him that photo opportunity, we need to know we're pursuing the same policies, otherwise, we're showing solidarity for a policy that is not British and not in Britain's interests." The US trip dangers for Blair Mr Cook said the PM should also warn Mr Bush there needs to be "minimal use" of US military force in Iraq and "more restraint". "US forces inside Iraq have got to stop approaching the country as if they are still waging a war and start recognising that they are there to keep the peace and not expedite the violence." Charles Kennedy said Mr Blair should make it clear there is a "massive degree" of international disquiet about the "tactics and methodology" employed by American forces in Iraq. British envoy "In many ways they are being likened ... to some of the tactics that the Israeli forces have been using against the Palestinians," he told Today. HAVE YOUR SAY Blair will be pressured to provide more troops and lean on Nato countries to step in And Conservative leader Michael Howard renewed his party's call for a "powerful, authoritative" UK presence in Baghdad. "I would like to see that person designated as the deputy to Paul Bremer, the American administrator in Iraq," he told BBC Breakfast. This would mean Britain was "plugged in to the decision making process". He also described the plan for Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to make a statement to the House of Commons on the Blair-Bush talks, instead of the prime minister, as "extraordinarily arrogant". The warnings came after Mr Blair met UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York on Thursday and insisted there was now a common purpose in the international community over Iraq. Renewed uprisings against coalition troops in Iraq are likely to be high on the agenda at Mr Blair's talks with Mr Bush.