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Global battle is for hearts and minds, prime minister says British Prime Minister Tony Blair: "This is a global fight about global values."******************************LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The conflict in the Middle East, as well as others involving Muslim extremists, revolve around "modernization within Islam" and whether the Western system of values can "beat theirs," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said in a speech Tuesday.Speaking to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, Blair went on to say that the struggle was between moderate, benign values versus the hatred and intolerance of fundamentalism."Even the issue of Israel is just part of...

Tony Blair's speech in Los Angeles about the "global fight" against "reactionary Islam" appears to represent a break with the tactics adopted by President Bush and the American neoconservatives in the "war on terror". Mr Blair's speech contained tough words for Iran and Syria It was also a rallying cry to "moderate Islam" to assert itself. He was not withdrawing from the battle. After all, Britain is still in Iraq and Afghanistan and is supporting Israel against Hezbollah. But he did not mention the phrase "war on terror" at all and seemed to be trying to change the language as...

PACIFIC PALISADES - Wanting to see America beyond the beltway of power and politics in Washington, D.C., British Prime Minister Tony Blair began a two-day visit to Los Angeles on Monday - the first official trip to the Southland by a sitting British prime minister. Blair, who is here to discuss the environment, world politics and business, started with a meeting with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Port of Long Beach, where the two signed an agreement to tackle global warming. Later, Blair was the guest of honor at a reception hosted by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at the recently reopened...

British Prime Minister Tony Blair called for an "alliance of moderation" to counter the "arc of extremism" stretching across the Middle East, saying in a speech to be delivered Tuesday that a soft approach is as important as military action. Blair said he still hoped for a quick end to the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas hostilities in southern Lebanon, and once that happens, the global approach to a lasting settlement in the Middle East needs to be reconsidered. "We will continue to do all we can to halt the hostilities," said Blair in remarks prepared for delivery in...

TONY Blair is to team up with Arnold Schwarzenegger in a bid to terminate global warming. The PM will hold talks about green schemes with the former Hollywood star when he jets to California next month. Schwarzenegger, whose hit films included Terminator and Total Recall, turned his back on the big screen to become governor of California in 2003. Since then he has earned a reputation for championing projects to help save the planet. Mr Blair is also determined to stress the Government's green credentials amid fears that Tory leader David Cameron is wooing voters with his "Vote Blue, Go...

Blair and Bush launch peace plan By George Jones and Alec Russell in Washington (Filed: 29/07/2006) Tony Blair and President George W Bush last night launched a fresh diplomatic initiative to try to end the conflict in the Middle East as they shrugged off criticism of their record in the crisis. At an emergency summit in the White House, they agreed that Condoleezza Rice, the United States secretary of state, would fly back to the region today in an attempt to persuade the Lebanese and Israeli governments to agree on a peace plan and the deployment of an international force...

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: British Prime Minister Tony Blair met with President Bush today at the White House to discuss the Middle East crisis. Here is a link to the White House transcript of their press conference. President Bush later directed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to return to the Middle East to deliver a joint British-U.S. proposal to the governments of Israel and Lebanon. Here's a link to the Yahoo/AFP story.On a lighter note, in his capacity as ceremonial head of state, President Bush welcomed the Big Brother and Big Sister of the Year to the Oval Office....

For you who missed it, this morning Tony Blair gave the best response on the War on Terror that I have ever seen. I was so impressed that I decided to record it off my TiVo and upload it to YouTube (my first time) so that it would be available to everyone. Blair absolutly nails it, and it should be viewed by everyone. The link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVkCCjWAleY

Bush & Blair news conference 12:30ET

The political partnership of Bush and Blair is more than just a cynical marriage of convenience AT A TIME when divorce is evidently getting easier and more lucrative, it is touching to see one couple soldiering on despite their domestic difficulties. Admittedly this “marriage” is between two men, which would raise eyebrows (and possibly shotguns) in the senior partner’s native Texas. It is, though, the family of the other partner that remains most shocked, mortified indeed, by the enduring liaison. All of which was revealed last week when Tony Blair met George W. Bush in Washington. To some, nothing else...

"I hope that isn't the White House telling me they don't agree with that," quipped the Prime Minister when a mobile phone rang in the middle of the speech he gave at Georgetown University in Washington on Friday. "They act very quickly these guys… " His joke betrayed the nature of the "special relationship": the Bush administration tells Mr Blair what it wants, and Mr Blair does his best to provide it. That appears to extend even to changing the text of the Prime Minister's keynote speeches. In accordance with the usual protocol, the George-town address was discussed with members...

This is the third of my speeches on the challenges facing the international community. In the first, I argued that the global terrorism that menaces us, can only be defeated through pulling it up by its roots. We have to attack not just its methods but its ideas, its presumed and false sense of grievance against the West, its attempt to persuade us that it is we and not they who are responsible for its violence. In doing so, we should stand up for our own values, asserting that they are not Western but global values, whose spread is the...

Tony Blair made significant changes to one of his most important foreign policy speeches after bowing to American objections, The Sunday Telegraph has learned. The Prime Minister changed key passages on possible action against Iran, climate change, and a proposed shake-up of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Objections by President George W Bush's inner circle played a key role in the alterations, which were made just before Mr Blair delivered his landmark address at Georgetown University in Washington, on Friday, British sources have revealed.Only three hours before the speech was delivered, Downing Street officials were briefing journalists...

President Bush And Prime Minister Tony Blair Of The United Kingdom Participate In Joint Press Availability 7:31 P.M. EDT PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you all. Good evening. I want to thank Prime Minister Tony Blair for coming to Washington to discuss his recent visit to Iraq. The Prime Minister met with key leaders of the new Iraqi government that represents the will of the Iraqi people and reflects their nation's diversity. As Prime Minister Blair will tell you, Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki outlined an aggressive agenda to bring security to the Iraqi people, to improve electricity and other essential services, and to...

Today President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair held talks at the White House before Tony Blair gave a speech at Georgetown University. President Bush took part in no public events today, before leaving for Camp David for the weekend

WASHINGTON — President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair are going to work with their new partners in Iraq to determine when the Iraqis can sustain themselves and coalition forces can drawdown, the president said in a press conference with Blair on Thursday night. "I have said that our commanders on the ground will make that decision. I will talk to General Casey once he has conferred with the new government in Iraq. They are in the process of getting a defense minister, they don't have a defense minister yet ... it probably makes a lot of sense for our...

Bush & Blair joint news conference.

Today the President Attended the Change of Command Ceremony for the Commandant of the United States Coast Guard Later today the President will welcome British Prime Minister Tony Blair to the White House. Today's dose will also be a live thread of their Press Conference. Yesterday the Vice President attended a joint session of Congress for an address by Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Yesterday Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei at the State Department Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

When Tony Blair and George Bush meet at the White House for dinner on Thursday, they will be contemplating the beginning of the end of a relationship that has seen their policies dominate the world scene but which have left them weakened at home for their final years in office. In one of its perhaps less elegant wordplays, the Economist magazine declared that the two now constituted as "an axis of feeble."

President Bush will welcome British Prime Minister Tony Blair back to the White House on May 25, 2006. The President looks forward to continuing discussions with the Prime Minister on the full range of issues on our strategic agenda, including supporting the new Iraqi government, preventing Iran from acquiring the means to build nuclear weapons, bringing peace to the Middle East, ending the violence in Darfur, and promoting free trade. The United Kingdom is a key ally and a resolute partner of the United States in addressing these and other global challenges. # # #