Bush Optimistic on Brown Support on Iraq

By GEORGE GEDDA

WASHINGTON – President Bush expressed optimism Thursday about the future of British policy toward Iraq under Gordon Brown, the apparent successor to Prime Minister Tony Blair, declaring that Brown "understands the consequences of failure."

Bush said that in discussions with Brown, he found him "to be easy to talk to, a good thinker."

Speaking with reporters, Bush said he will miss Blair, his close ally in the Iraq war, who announced Thursday his decision to step down on June 27. Brown, Britain’s treasury chief, is the apparent successor, but Bush was careful to point out that the final decision was yet to be made.

A month ago, Brown met with Bush for the first time without Blair being present. The two spoke for a half hour after Bush dropped in on a meeting between Brown and U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. Brown was in Washington for meetings at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

"I have found him to be an open and engaging person," Bush said.

Brown has not indicated whether he plans any policy shifts in Iraq if and when he takes office.

To the extent that the Iraq war has been a lonely quest for Bush, it has been less so thanks to the unwavering backing of Blair.

He heaped praise on the British prime minister, calling him "a man who keeps him word, which sometimes is rare in political circles."

"He is a remarkable person, and I consider him a good friend," Bush said.

There are 7,100 British troops in Iraq, roughly eight times the number of the next largest contributor other than the United States. More than 130 British troops have died in a conflict that has never had the strong support of the British people.

Blair shares with Bush poor poll ratings among their respective countrymen as a result of the Iraq war.

Charles Kupchan, European expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Blair’s stand in support of the Iraq war puts him in the "rarified" company of just two other leaders, President Bush himself and former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, whose troop commitment to Iraq was overturned not long after he left office in 2004.

"Everyone else who backed Bush was really trying to lock in a good relationship with the United States rather than engaging in what they thought was the right war," Kupchan said.

Less complimentary, Julianne Smith of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said there was no question that Blair’s legacy "will suffer from the stain of Iraq."

Blair, she said, was content to "cozy up to the United States to the bitter end, refusing to look back and question his choice."