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Everything's rosy ... Tony Blair talks to Trevor Kavanagh at No10 Picture: ARTHUR EDWARDS A RELAXED and happy Tony Blair talked exclusively to The Sun yesterday about the darkest hours of Gulf War II — when he feared he might be FINISHED as Prime Minister. And he spoke of his delight as he watched Saddam Hussein’s evil tyranny end as the dictator’s bronze statue was toppled in Baghdad.“It was great,” he said. “I was delighted and I was relieved.”Sitting in the sunshine in the rose garden at 10 Downing Street, he admitted he had been poised to quit if defeated...

THE BOOK ON BLAIR Americans should be grateful for the British prime minister's help, but not starry-eyed By Tim Montgomerie IS THERE A NEW TONY BLAIR? Last year the British prime minister and leader of the left-of-center Labor Party was known for his slavish devotion to the advice of opinion pollsters (and the landslide election victories that the polls showed him how to achieve). Now he is known for steadfastly supporting the liberation of Iraq, even though until the war began British polls showed substantial popular opposition to military action. Mr. Blair's steadfast support for President Bush's plan is impressive,...

The streets of the Kurdish capital, Erbil, filled with American, Iraqi and Kurdish flags yesterday as tens of thousands took to the street to celebrate the demise of the regime. Kurdish Iraqis celebrate in the northern Iraqi town of Arbil "Saddam, the criminal, the murderer, the savage, wild animal is gone," shouted a widow, Fauziya Ali, 45. "The black criminal, perpetrator of Halabja, is dead," she said. Halabja, a town that bore the brunt of Saddam Hussein's genocidal attempt to quell the Kurds with nerve agents and chemical weapons, is foremost among the reasons that the Kurdish people hunger for...

"LOOK, there go our planes." Nawal Ali smiles widely and raises calloused hands to the sky, pointing out the vapour trail of a B-52 bomber heading towards the Iraqi cities of Kirkuk and Mosul. "I think it must be a Kurdish God who has sent the US and the UK to save us," says Ali, a 36-year-old mother of eight children and two grandchildren. "I pray for the Americans every night and would sacrifice myself for them." Support for the US-led war in Iraq has reached hysterical proportions in this ragged little township on the outskirts of Erbil, in Kurdish-controlled...

Blair’s Simple Stubbornness Many people are asking, as this war enters it’s third week – where’s Tony Blair? He is gone from the televisions, replaced by the grainy night-vision images of troops and anti-aircraft fire. Now we carefully listen to Central Command briefings, instead of watching for Blair to set foot outside 10 Downing Street to assure us that Britain is still with us. He’s largely faded into the background, at least here in America. Many people have wrongly compared Blair to Winston Churchill. Churchill was a man who suffered daily with his ‘black dog’, depression. He was a great...

"I felt as if I was walking with destiny, and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and this trial." Max Hastings's two-part documentary Winston's War (Channel 4) this week gave a fascinating sense of just how difficult the British High Command found joining Winston Churchill's walk with destiny. Churchill had tantrums and huffs. The "adventurer" meddled constantly with the military, altering the plans for the Norwegian campaign after the fleet had set sail. He hauled the top brass down to Ditchley to watch endless late-night films. He was so rude to Lord Wavell...

Dear America, you quirky mix of 280 million misfits that have somehow blended into the strongest nation in the world, I write to offer you four apologies and two vows. I, James Black, a European passport holder whose parents are Scottish, whose wife is English, and whose four children are free to be whatever they may want to be (directly because of the sacrifice of your nation), am ashamed for pointing out to a colleague while visiting your country a few days ago that Winston Churchill was wrong when he said the biggest difference between Britain and the United...

Rally is called to support troops sent into battle By Simon de Bruxelles THE wives, mothers, family and friends of Service personnel fighting in Iraq are to stage a rally to show their support for their loved ones. Relatives say they are fed up with coverage given to vocal anti-war protesters and they want the troops to know they do have support at home. The rally in Exeter in Devon tomorrow will be the first such to back the soldiers, sailors and airmen fighting the war on Saddam. The West County is the home of many of the 3,000 members...

Queuing chaotically behind lines marked out with white tape, they stood expectantly to receive their first fresh water and food for days. "Thank you, thank you," they chorused, "America, Britain, good, good. Happy, happy." Men were trying to kiss the soldiers, clutching their hands, tugging at their clothing, garbling their thanks, desperate for food, desperate for water.

A YOUNG Iraqi boy in a torn red T-shirt was the first to show his face yesterday. He peered out from behind a gate, unsure what to do as two Royal Marine commandos strode down the muddy street towards him. Marine Andrew Chilvers dropped to one knee, rested his machinegun on the ground and beckoned the boy. He then held out a chocolate bar. The boy hungrily tore off the wrapper, calling for his brothers and sisters to join him. Soon the 21-year-old commando from Middlesbrough was surrounded by outstretched hands. “If only winning the rest of Iraq was...

BASRA: ANTI-SADDAM RIOTS Rioting is taking place in Basra by locals opposed to Saddam Hussein, reports say. Iraqi troops are reported to be firing on the rioters with mortars in an attempt to crush the uprising. British forces are firing back at the Iraqi positions with heavy artillery, reports say. They said they have dropped a bomb on the ruling Ba'ath Party HQ. Two large explosions have been heard in the city centre. Reporter Richard Gaisford, who is with troops just west of Basra, said British intelligence officers there told him about the civil uprising.He said the officers said intelligence...

Tony Blair has sacrificed his political carrier for us. He’ shown such integrity I’m eternally grateful to Britain. This is no small measure. Does any one have a link to TB and those in the BP that support the US? A true show of gratitude is in order.

It was a surreal way to invade a country. As a huge British convoy crossed into Iraq yesterday hundreds of children came to greet them. In the end British soldiers were greeted, not with gunfire, but with laughter and smiles. As the troops moved past small boys ran up to the windows, smiling and grinning. 'Hello, hello,' one shouted. A small group of teenagers sang and danced and clapped their hands. Every single one of them seemed to wave his fingers in the universal signal for a cigarette. British troops drive nervously by. They are still very much under war...

Britain's Blair stakes premiership on Iraq By Andrew Cawthorne LONDON, March 21 (Reuters) - Now that British leader Tony Blair has sent troops to war in Iraq, on the home front he faces the fight of his previously charmed political life. Before the strike on Iraq, Blair had already taken a battering -- falling popularity, the biggest revolt of his ruling Labour Party, three ministerial resignations and lampooning by critics as the "poodle" of George W. Bush. Now, with his diplomatic nightmare scenario come true -- no second U.N. resolution to give him the cover of international consensus for the...

Freepers...click on the Link above to send an email to PM Tony Blair with a big THANKS for standing with the US on the war to liberate IRAQ! Mr. Blair has done a wonderful job of supporting us at his own political peril, from the many leftists in the UK.

March 19, 2003 Blair plays not to the gallery but to the heartTONY BLAIR has never made a more difficult speech, or a more important one, or a better one. Its power lay not in oratorical flourish, or wit, or calculated emotional appeal; it was not smooth, or clever, or contemptuous. It did not hammer home the history and histrionics, or invoke the cadence of the pulpit. The shrugs, the headshakes and the sneer had gone. Instead it was raw, simple, dignified, and bleak: a promise, a plea, and a warning. It was made by a man armed with words...

Just a quick note of THANKS from this American to the UK and Tony Blair. I must admit I did not like Mr. Blair per his cozying up to Clinton...but I have reconsidered, in light of his support of the US and our great President, George W. Bush. I have visited France but never the UK. I am looking forward to my first of many visits to the UK with my family and NEVER visiting France again. May God Bless you for your wonderful support of America.

I've been thinking about the way that America has been responding to France. I can admit that I have been increasingly frustrated by their lack of support and can fully support the method in which others are dealing with this situation. But I can't help but think about how little we have done as a people to support Brittain's position. I recently read an article that Tony Blair is receiving support from only 19% of his country. I am of the opinion that we need to equal our support for Brittain to our disdain for France. How can we do...

<p>March 13, 2003 -- 'I do not seek unpopularity as a badge of honor," says British Prime Minister Tony Blair. "But sometimes it is the price of leadership and it is the cost of conviction." And for his fervent and unwavering support of the War on Terrorism - and his determination, along with President Bush, to force Saddam Hussein to disarm - Blair now finds himself fighting for his political life.</p>

My First Post Have a lot of Respect for FreeRepublic. New Poster: Just wanted to say my belief is that this whole UN thing was supported by the US for Tony Blair, and even though GW had to call third world countries to try to get this done, it was for the UK and as I hold this man (Tony Blair) in such high esteem, I think whatever the outcome, the UN sidetrack will cement the UK relationship and really embarrass the bad players in this whole game. I have seen the negative posts but since the UN is so...