Got an email from a British reader:

WTF is with Donald? Are those Freudian slips, or calculated rhetoric? I've mentioned before that I don't buy into political altrusim, but I've nevertheless always believed that Tony was on the up-and-up with regards to Iraq.


The guy genuinely "believes" what he's saying. And he's in "no" danger orf being voted out on this issue (at least, not until regular election time comes round). The Tories are far too in love with him for that to happen.

My reply:


"Are you talking about Rummy's saying that the US could go it alone if need be? What did I miss? It seemed pretty innocuous but the British press are freaking? The view from here is certainly bad for Tony Blair. The approval numbers for going in without UN sanction are tiny, while in the USA they're growing. The press spin is certainly that he's facing all sorts of political challenges. I saw a clip from some talk show where Blair was in a room with a bunch of housewives and they were fucking grilling him. At the end they gave him some terse applause. Christ, I couldn't help but wonder which of his advisers got fired after that.


The administration is concerned about destroying Blair politically, which going in without UN mandate would do (see USS Clueless on this). Now, given that we're going, and that France has said they're vetoing no matter what, it's just a natural question to ask what becomes of all those Brits sitting there with our guys in the gulf. Will we go without them? Of course. I'd imagine they'd feel like real shit if they were left sitting on their hands while the Americans were off storming Baghdad, but what can you do? Every day is costing lives.


Oh, and imagine if he says that, no, we can't go without the British. Then all the pressure is on Blair. He's the weak link who's under the most political pressure anyway. His domestic foes would just ratchet up, but as it is, they now have to imagine the USA going in and all those British troops sitting around with their thumbs up their asses." [Hopefully that image will be too much to take.]


Update: Andrew Sullivan also has a couple of interesting tidbits on this, as does Opinion Journal - Best of the Web.


I heard something on one of the pundit shows recently, can't remember which one, that describes how this whole situation is becoming. It's like when a cop chases a suspect and catches them, if it takes him too long to pack the perp up and get him back to the jail then the crowd starts to form. Suddenly, it's the cop who's on the defensive as the crowd starts to run the show. The longer this all drags out the worse the diplomatic situation is going to become as people in the crowd start latching on to any little thing to chafe on.