Washington – To the last, neither George Bush nor Tony Blair wavered.
The British prime minister allowed not a single regret about the war alliance that cost him his popularity and perhaps his job. The U.S. president, losing his best friend on the world stage, bristled at suggestions that Blair should already be out the door.
“Trying to do a tap dance on his political grave, aren’t you?” Bush said Thursday at Blair’s side in the White House Rose Garden, admonishing British reporters looking beyond Blair’s tenure six weeks before he leaves office. “You don’t understand how effective Blair is, I guess.”
Bush’s reluctance to see Blair go is understandable. For Bush, Blair has been a steadfast friend for more than six years, an articulate and impassioned defender of the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
The British prime minister has been a presence in Bush’s presidency like no other leader.
Telephone conversations were regular. This White House meeting spanning two days was their 13th get-together in Washington since Bush took office in 2001. It was their 30th overall as leaders, including four at Camp David or Bush’s Texas ranch.
Reflecting their close ties, Blair was offered at the last minute – and accepted – a White House sleepover, choosing the Queen’s Bedroom down the hall from Bush over the coincidentally named Blair House across the street, the traditional quarters for visiting leaders.
After breakfast Thursday, Blair strolled with Bush from the residence to the Oval Office and visited the newly renovated and top-secret Situation Room in the basement of the White House for an hour-long secure videoconference between the two leaders and their countries’ representatives in Iraq.
Bush and Blair have cooperated on Iran; on the Middle East; on fighting malaria, AIDS and genocide in Africa; and on the global anti-terrorism battle, among a host of pressing issues.
Over the years, their bond has grown intense, based on personal chemistry as well as a fierce belief in the rightness of the 2003 Iraq invasion and the decision to remain there.
Largely because of the war, Bush saw his Republican Party lose stewardship of Congress in November. And Blair is believed to be leaving his post earlier than he would have otherwise.
But their positions remain the same.
“We took a decision that we thought was very difficult,” Blair said. “I thought then, and I think now, it was the right decision.”
