From "Washington Post Foreign Service"



While Blair was on summer vacation, ("vacation"? ... how unbritish, Sir Cliff takes summer "holidays") British public opinion turned sharply against military action, with the most recent poll by ICM Research reporting 71 percent were opposed to British involvement in an invasion of Iraq. Published in Monday's Daily Mirror newspaper, the poll showed that 38 percent of respondents agreed with the statement that Blair "is Bush's poodle."

The prime minister seemed to bristle at the notion. (A bristling poodle ... that has to be fearsome!) "Look, I would never support anything I thought was wrong out of some blind loyalty to the United States," (SINCE WHEN?!) he said. "Some of what I read -- I mean, let's not beat around the bush (Oh dear!) -- a lot of it is just straightforward anti-Americanism."

Blair said he understood that reasonable people had legitimate concerns about how a military campaign against Hussein would affect Middle East stability and the Arab-Israeli conflict. (Some might even be concerned about what that quaint American term "colateral damage" might mean to the odd innocent Iraqi.) But he said some of the criticism of Washington was "wrong, misguided and dangerous. I also think that some of the criticism of George Bush is just a parody. (Can one parody parody?) The person that I know and work with operates on these security issues in a calm and sensible and measured way." (Compared to what?!)


How dare Blair carry on like this, this is the sole prerogative of toadying Australian Prime Ministers.