[Vision2020] Blair appears to cringe at 'poodle' query "Fi-Fi" Nice Doggy!

[Dick Schmidt]

Blair appears to cringe at 'poodle' query

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- It was the last question Prime Minister Tony Blair wanted asked, and he seemed to cringe as President Bush answered it.

"The prime minister is sometimes, perhaps unfairly, characterized in Britain as your poodle," began the questioner at a joint appearance by the two leaders Friday at the White House. "I was wondering if that's the way you may see your relationship? And perhaps, more seriously, do you feel for the -"

Blair broke in: "Don't answer 'yes' to that question," he mockingly admonished Bush, prompting laughter.

Joking aside, Bush offered a serious answer.

"Plenty capable of making his own mind. He's a strong, capable man," the president said. "When times get tough he doesn't wilt. You know, when the criticism starts to come his way - I suspect that might be happening on occasion - he stands for what he believes in."

        
     
An endorsement of his leadership qualities from the American president, no matter how hearty, is of little help to Blair.

A wide section of the British public deeply dislikes Bush, viewing him as a unilateralist. The detention of four Britons without trial at Guantanamo Bay, his refusal to sign the Kyoto global warming protocol, his rejection of an international criminal court, and his invasion of Iraq without a specific green light from the United Nations add to his unpopularity.

Blair's critics are unlikely to be swayed from their conviction that the prime minister doggedly follows U.S. foreign policy without exerting any real influence.

No wonder Blair appeared a bit uncomfortable. Still, he couldn't resist offering a little self-defense.

"As long as I remain prime minister of our country it will carry on being strong - not because that's in the interests of America simply or in the interests of the international community, but because I believe passionately it is in the interest of Britain," Blair said.
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