Tony Blair uses an interview in the FT (unfortunately, registration is required) today to tackle a number of the big issues facing the Anglo-American alliance.
Most significantly, the prime minister indicates that US-led forces in Iraq could begin handing over large parts of the country to its security forces after the election. "There are areas where we would be able to hand over to those Iraqi forces. Remember, 14 out of the 18 provinces in Iraq are relatively peaceful and stable," Mr Blair tells the paper.
He defends George Bush's inauguration speech, insisting it is "perfectly progressive" to proclaim "ending tyranny" to be your foreign policy aim.
Talking about Iran, he describes the idea that the US is planning invasions of what Condoleezza Rice has called "outposts of tyranny" as "wild fantasies". Asked, however, whether it could be necessary to tackle the theocracies' alleged nuclear ambitions by means of military force, he replies "yes". As the FT notes, that seems discordant with the foreign secretary's view that an attack on Iran is "inconceivable."
Mr Blair is also optimistic about the chances of getting Mr Bush to agree to some sort of "Kyoto-lite" international agreement on tacking climate change. He claims the US "does want to get back into dialogue" on the issue, despite rejecting the Kyoto protocol, and that the Bush administration has "moved from the position that there is not an issue here".
On the matter of persuading the US president to focus on getting Israel and the Palestinians back round the negotiating table, meanwhile, he tantalisingly reveals that "in the next few weeks ... there will again be a very clear direction set out by America".
