Blair: No regrets over Iraq

WASHINGTON – Outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday that he has no regrets for his Iraq war alliance and friendship with President Bush and doesn’t blame him for the plunging popularity that drove him to step down.

With eloquence and passion, Blair defended his friendship with Bush and their decision to invade Iraq in what likely was his last news conference in the White House Rose Garden. In London, Gordon Brown was confirmed as Blair’s replacement. He will assume office June 27.

“… (S)tanding next to President Bush, I’ve admired him as a president, and I regard him as a friend,” Blair said. “I have taken the view that Britain should stand shoulder to shoulder with America after September the 11th. I have never deviated from that view. I do not regret that view. I am proud of the relationship we have had. I’m proud of the relationship between our two countries.”

But Blair paid a political price at home for his loyalty. Critics ridiculed him as Bush’s “poodle.” A politician who was riding high in the polls in the late 1990s, Blair saw his public approval ratings crash, weighted down by an unpopular war and a wildly unpopular American president.

A Times of London poll found last week that 71 percent of British voters didn’t trust Blair.

When asked by a British reporter whether he bears some responsibility for Blair’s exit, Bush replied, “Could be,” but he quickly added, “I don’t know.”

The president then admonished British reporters for prematurely writing Blair’s political obituary.

“You know, it’s interesting, like trying to do a tap dance on his political grave, aren’t you?” Bush said. “I mean, this – you don’t understand how effective Blair is, I guess, because when we’re in a room with world leaders and he speaks, people listen. And they, they view his opinion as considered and his judgment as sound.”

Though Bush complained that reporters’ questions implied that his meeting with Blair was a “farewell deal” when in fact it was a work session, the prime minister’s presence in the White House had all the trappings of a last official visit.

Blair slept in the White House Wednesday night in the Queen’s Bedroom, which Winston Churchill frequently used during World War II. Bush and Blair also had dinner alone in the White House residence.