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BUSH AND BLAIR MEET TO PLAN IRAQ STRATEGY
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PRESIDENT Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair, the most ardent international supporter of the White House's Iraq policy, will meet at Bush's mountain retreat to plot strategy.
In a joint appearance before Saturday's summit at Camp David, Md., the two leaders were expected to repeat their shared view that Saddam Hussein's ouster is the only way to stop Iraq's pursuit - and potential use - of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
Aides insist Bush has not settled on whether, or when, to use a military attack or other means to accomplish that goal. Regardless, Blair - in marked contrast to other U.S. allies that have urged caution - has said the Americans should not have to go it alone.
The Bush team also could benefit from Blair's input as it works out a proposed United Nations resolution setting a deadline for Iraq to admit weapons inspectors or risk punitive action.
Blair's brief Camp David stopover, ending Saturday night following a late-afternoon meeting and dinner, promised to be a far cry from the British leader's visit in February 2001, when all Bush could think of that the two shared was a toothpaste preference.
Through a speech and his own diplomatic efforts, Blair has persisted in outspoken support for U.S. Iraq policy despite criticism from the British public, his own party and others across Europe.
Earlier this week, Blair said his government hoped to publish within weeks a dossier of evidence on Saddam's efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction. Britain released a similar paper against Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida network just days before the start of the U.S.- and British-led strikes in Afghanistan.
He also lent a hand to the campaign to rally international support behind action against Saddam, making calls to Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Jacques Chirac and meeting in London with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud.
The Bush-Blair summit also would provide a welcome break from the president's uphill effort to soften recalcitrant world leaders, launched Friday with his own calls to Putin, Chirac and Chinese President Jiang Zemin.
The three leaders, all opposed to a unilateral U.S. military strike against Iraq, promised to hear - but not necessarily to endorse - Bush's case against Saddam when administration teams visit their three capitals, senior officials said.
The president plans meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien in Detroit on Monday and with Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barosso at the White House on Tuesday.
Bush acknowledged that many have doubts but said he will not change his mind about the threat posed by Saddam. He characterized his consultations as less an exchange of ideas than an effort to ``see the leaders of the world and remind them of the facts.''
Blair appears to need no reminding.
Promising British troops to any future effort, he said ``general expressions of support and sympathy'' aren't what Americans need from their ally.
``They need to know: Are you prepared to commit, are you prepared to be there when the shooting starts?'' Blair told the British Broadcasting Corp.
The Washington Post reported, meanwhile, that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's office on Friday night withdrew a 2,300-word article he had written for Sunday's editions making the case for pre-emptive military action to head off potential threats from weapons of mass destruction.
The article cited the three countries Bush has called the ``axis of evil'' - Iraq, Iran and North Korea - as well as Libya and Syria.
Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said Rumsfeld withdrew the article because the timing ``was not right,'' the Post reported.
End.
Englishman.