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Iraq Blair's Achilles Heal

The facts speak for themselves - as reported in The Independent here:

"72 per cent predict that Iraq will descend into civil war if British and American troops withdraw

61 per cent believe Britain's experience in Iraq makes them less likely to support military intervention

72 per cent say that Tony Blair's support for George Bush calls into question his political judgement

62 per cent believe that British troops should be withdrawn from Iraq as soon as possible

72 per cent believe that the war in Iraq is unwinnable.

Demands for an urgent Commons debate on pulling British troops out of Iraq were stepped up last night at Westminster after an opinion poll found that 62 per cent of voters support a withdrawal before the country has been made stable.

The poll dealt a blow to efforts by Tony Blair to shore up his strategy of keeping British forces in Iraq "until the job is done". In talks in Downing Street with the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Barham Salih, Mr Blair again said Britain had to "hold its nerve".

But a Communicate Research poll for The Independent showed a majority rejects the Bush-Blair strategy and wants British troops to be pulled out sooner rather than later, even if Iraq is not stable".

Meanwhile, it looks like John Howard will need to consult his dictionary to find a new slogan about Iraq. "Staying the course" is evidently out at the White House according to the NY Times:

"The White House said Monday that President Bush was no longer using the phrase “stay the course” when speaking about the Iraq war, in a new effort to emphasize flexibility in the face of some of the bloodiest violence there since the 2003 invasion."

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