and Bush is losing the terms of the debate. From overseas (Times (UK):
War allies in retreat over failure of Iraq intelligence
By Roland Watson in Washington, Greg Hurst, and James Hider in Baghdad
Dissenting opinions 'dropped'
PRESIDENT BUSH appeared ready yesterday to give in to demands for an independent inquiry into the massive intelligence failure behind the Iraq war.
Mr Bush is discussing the terms of a panel that would examine why American intelligence was so wide of the mark in wrongly believing that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
Tony Blair is also paving the way to admit that WMD may never be found, acording to sources.
(...)
The move is a gamble for Mr Bush in an election year. But White House strategists believe that doing nothing could backfire, making Mr Bush look complacent. And they believe an independent panel will be less risky if Mr Bush sets its terms of reference.
Mr Blair is expected to use an appearance before senior MPs tomorrow, at the Liaison Committee of select committee chairmen, to admit that "legitimate questions" can be raised about pre-war intelligence and the failure so far to find Iraq's weapons. Such a move would make an eventual inquiry almost inevitable.
Any announcement would come much later, but his change of tone reflects an acceptance that an inquiry appears almost inevitable to quell public scepticism over the reasons for the war.
For Blair to backtrack on this is a very big deal. He has never admitted the possibility of being wrong on the Intel, and it is the single reason used for Blair to have joned Bush in this disaster. And, much to Blair's consternation, Lord Hutton did not get Tony off the hook. The public doesn't believe it was a fair verdict and considers it a whitewash.
More to follow:
Blair fears being hung out to dry by Bush over WMD
PM isolated over wait-and-see policy as weapons hunt flounders
By Andy McSmith and Raymond Whitaker
01 February 2004
Close associates of Tony Blair fear that the Prime Minister is on the point of being hung out to dry by President George Bush over the issue of whether Iraq held weapons of mass destruction when Britain and the US went to war last March.
Under pressure from the Democrats and some prominent Republicans in an election year, Mr Bush is edging towards an admission that the intelligence used by the US and Britain to justify the war was faulty. White House sources said yesterday that he may yield to demands for an independent inquiry into the failure of intelligence on Iraq.
One leading ally of the Prime Minister said: "There have been signs of a divergent strategy in Washington. This is a real problem for Blair."
Having enlisted Britain's spies in making the case for war in the September 2002 dossier on Iraq's WMD, the Prime Minister is less able than Mr Bush to distance himself. The White House, unlike No 10, never staked its entire case for war on Iraq's alleged possession of WMD, and may seek to deflect blame on to the CIA and other intelligence agencies, including MI6.
The changing message from Washington comes as Downing Street advisers are still recovering from their astonishment at public reaction to last week's Hutton report into the suicide of the weapons expert David Kelly.
Instead of seeing the report as proof that Mr Blair believed in the existence of Iraq's illegal weaponry when the took the country to war, the public - according to early opinion polls - thinks that the BBC has been unfairly traduced for trying to uncover the truth behind the decision to go to war.
Last week he brushed aside calls to open an inquiry into the quality of British intelligence reports on Iraq's pre-war weaponry, which will increase when he is questioned by MPs this week.
Things seem to be changing daily as Blair scrambles to keep up with his good friend George and get their stories straight. Not that Bush cares. He's gotten from Tony what he wanted; now comes the rude awakening about Junior's true character on Tony's part.
But what happens on that side of the Atlantic inevitably bounces back to echo even louder on this side. Can't wait for the next masterstroke by the boy king, soon to be under seige.