Blair Grows A Pair

Or: The Poodle Bites Back, or: Tony Won't Buy George A Pony.

Britain's Daily Mail:

Tony Blair will make clear this week that Britain is not going to send more troops to Iraq even if the US pushes ahead with a "surge" of 20,000 extra soldiers.

The Prime Minister will insist that the UK will stick to its own strategy of gradually handing over to the Iraqi army, as it has been doing with success in Basra and the south.

...Mr Blair, in a rare distancing from White House policy, has been keen for Britain to be seen to be acting under its own initiative.

Chancellor Gordon Brown said yesterday that as Prime Minister he would conduct a foreign policy based firmly on British interests.

It looks like George is going to have to rely on his other pet, Barney, for support of his latest Iraq victory plan.