Whitehall's private anger won't abate - The Guardian UK

[reprehensor]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1195569,00.html

Military chiefs and diplomats are seething at US conduct in Iraq

Richard Norton-Taylor
Tuesday April 20, 2004
The Guardian

Tony Blair, we were told, would be a decisive influence on the Bush administration over Iraq, especially in restoring law and order after the war and keeping the US firmly on the Middle East road map.

That was presented as a sort of reward for joining the invasion. But if the British government is influencing the American there is little sign of it. In the Commons yesterday, Blair struggled unconvincingly to give some positive gloss to Israel's unilateral decision on settlements in Gaza. And, like the helpless Jack Straw before him, he could only condemn the assassination of Abdel-Aziz Rantissi, the Hamas leader.

We now know from Bob Woodward's new book, Plan of Attack, that early last year George Bush offered Blair the option of withholding British troops from combat. Woodward also discloses that Bush ordered his military to draw up plans to invade Iraq as early as November 2001. This sits uneasily with Blair's claims that he persuaded Bush of the need to confront Saddam Hussein.

After the invasion, we were told, we experienced Brits would be able to tell the Americans a thing or two about counter-insurgency operations and post-conflict peacekeeping.

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[bemildred]

1. Tony does seem to be striking out on his own a bit

since the last meeting. That could all be political
theater, if fact it most likely is.