When Britain went to war in Iraq, Tony Blair assumed responsibility without power. The prime minister could reasonably expect to bring influence to bear on George W. Bush but the strategic direction was always going to be set by the White House. So it has been; and so it will be again during the approaching endgame.
Mr Blair accepted this lopsided bargain because, among other things, he thought that removing Saddam Hussein was the right thing to do and that Britain's security rested on a special relationship with the US. As he reminded us in his valedictory foreign policy speech at the Mansion House last night, he is not about to resile from that view.
