American Politics Journal -- How Did He Do?

The View From Europe
How Did He Do?
By Nicola Mitchell

Tony Blair
March 14, 2002 -- LONDON (APJP) -- The death of the Queen Mother not only managed to bring the Royal family back into public favour, but has also managed to pull of another unimaginable feat: that of a political ceasefire, not between Israel and Palestine, but between New Labour and its rebel backbenchers.

However, as political life in the UK is beginning spring back into action again, and particularly after Blair and Bush's cosy weekend away together, the no-fly zone looks set to be invaded again at any moment.

This time around, the Crawford summit was not one of the informal get-to-know-you sessions of the past, it was not a time for Dubya to muse about critical political dilemmas like how he and Tony share a mutual love of the same toothpaste as had happened on previous occasions, but it was a serious get down to business session in which Blair had to prove his worth and face his critics head on, or so we were told.

So on returning to Britain, the question on everyone's lips was, "How did he do?" No one seems to be able to agree on an answer.

Before he left for Crawford, members of the press were musing about how much behind the scenes power Blair actually held, with many believing he was holding more cards than he was being given credit for. On his return, the press corps we scrambling to bring him back down to earth again with an almighty bang.

I am so bored of the dull and predicable President Blair headlines. I can not believe that these people can not find anything else to write about, particularly given the current political situation we find ourselves in around the world. One minute Blair is to be commended for calming down the hawkish elements of the Bush Administration, and then the next minute, he is said to be too ready to agree with Bush's suggestions.

At least one good thing came out of the Crawford summit, and that was the fact the Bush administration finally pulled their head out of the clouds and started to smell the coffee by finally getting tough on Israel. Ever since they hijacked their way to power, the administration has made no secret of the fact it didn't want to get involved in the conflict, a fact demonstrated by the contempt they showed towards Bill Clinton's attempts to reach some kind of lasting, peaceful settlement.

Yet finally it appears their hand has been forced. Nevertheless, it still seems reckless to me for both the administration and Downing Street to continue to issue threatening statements to Iraq while the situation between Israel and Palestine remains so volatile. Bush has already demonstrated he finds it hard to eat and watch TV at the same time with the now legendary "pretzel incident", so how on earth he expects to be able to manage to control two of the most unpredictable and explosive political situations in the world, at the same time, remains to be seen.

But despite all the headlines that have dominated the press regarding the on-off relationship Blair and Bush, one thing continues to puzzle me: just how these two figures of such different political persuasions have come to regard each other, at least publicly, with such high esteem. The term "poles apart" is a huge understatement for this right-wing Republican administration that have overtaken the White House and the New Labour party residing in Downing Street, but the game of politics remains a complicated one and every player needs to find as many allies as possible. Let's just hope that these two bosom buddies and apparent political allies are not backing themselves into a corner, resulting in them loosing this most dangerous of games.