[iron81]

I was about to say TL;DR, but that joke plays differently here than the rest of 2+2. Instead, I'll give my opinion of Blair's relationship with the Bush administration, which is why I suppose Blair is giving a "rally the troops" speech here.

I firmly believe that the reason Blair signed up to be a lieutenant in the War on Terror and the Iraq war is not because he believes that terrorism is a problem (which everyone in the West does), or because the Bush Administration is persuing a wise strategy in these wars (which no one but U.S. Conservatives do), but that the best way to affect thinking in the White House is to work from the inside rather than take the French route and protest. Blair is a big reason that the US went through the whole UN process leading up to the Iraq war, but in order for Bush to return his phone calls, he had to sign up. I appreciate Blair's efforts in this at the risk of British troops and his own domestic political hide, but I feel it is unwise. Blair is one of the few people outside the Administratinon that Bush listens too, and I hope he takes this opportunity to tell the Bush administration that he needs to dial it down a couple notches.