Any Iraq Differences with U.S. Stay Private - Blair

Any Iraq Differences with U.S. Stay Private - Blair

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By Katherine Baldwin

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) told his ministers on Thursday he would never publicly air disagreements with Washington over policy in Iraq (news - web sites) for fear it would damage troop morale.



The government has repeatedly denied that London and Washington differ on Iraq policy but Blair's main political opponent said the prime minister often voiced disquiet in private and urged him to bring the debate into the open.


Blair's message, delivered to a cabinet meeting, was echoed by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon and follows calls from members of the ruling Labour Party for Blair to distance himself from President Bush (news - web sites).


Blair, Straw and Hoon "underlined the negative impact they thought any show of disagreement (with the U.S.) would have on morale," Blair's spokesman said of the cabinet meeting.


London and Washington shared common goals in Iraq, the spokesman said. The question was how to achieve those goals.


"Is it by discussing how you work toward that goal in public, using megaphone diplomacy, or is it to discuss the way forward together and work out a common strategy?" he asked.


"We believe it's better to work out a common strategy, not least because of the impact any disagreement or apparent disagreement would have on the troops who are working side-by-side on the ground," the spokesman added.


Earlier, opposition Conservative Party leader Michael Howard said Blair should be more "candid" about his differences with Bush on Iraq.


Blair "seems to take the view that any advice he offers on U.S. policy must be made in private and any disagreement kept secret," Howard wrote in The Independent newspaper.


"The partnership between the United Kingdom and the United States should always be a candid one," he added.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040520/wl_nm/iraq_britain_blair_dc&cid=574&ncid=1478

and I suspect he will end up in the same place, fired.

ass sucker. I have faith the British citizens are much brighter than their American counterparts. Buh bye tony.

Don’t be so sure. I’m constantly appalled by the slide in the intellectual ability of my compatriots. This Sunday there’s a show on called “How Gay are You?”. Just when I thought the lowest common denominator had been found, Sky undercuts it. It’s hardly like the masses will be out boning up on their political theory!

Tony can rule for as long as he wants to. The vast majority of people still don’t comprehend what a monumental fuck up Iraq is.

His troops are dying. That is worse than having bad morale. He is more concerned with Bush's image than the troops' morale.

Washington DC with Las Vegas!"What Happens in Washington stays in Washington" to pharaphrase!

you raised the issue of prisoner treatment and the Geneva Convention with Washington.

"I'll make this statement now, and later I can say I had objections to all sorts of things that I just couldn't tell you about for fear of harming the troops. Handy to have in the press."