An 演習 in monumental self-delusion

WHEN the history of Tony Blair's prime ministership comes to be written, his speech yesterday to the 組み立てる／集結するd U.S 上院 and House in Washington may be seen as the pivotal moment after which everything turned from bad to worse.

Mr Blair revels in adulation, and evidently values his international 評判 above all else. There he was in 議会, 祝日，祝うd by American 政治家，政治屋s, enjoying an honour that has been （許可，名誉などを）与えるd to only three previous British 総理大臣s.

Nearby was his supposed friend, 大統領 George W. Bush, who three months ago was, like Mr Blair himself, 裁判官d to be a 勝利を得た war leader.

But, にもかかわらず the enthusiastic 歓迎会, the 評判s of both men - and of Mr Blair in particular - have fallen over the past three months as it has become ますます 明らかな that in the final days of Saddam Hussein's 政権 there were very few, if any, 武器s of 集まり 破壊 which 提起する／ポーズをとるd a 脅し to Britain or America.

Mr Blair told 議会 what it 手配中の，お尋ね者 to hear - that Britain will remain America's loyal and subservient 同盟（する）. To his critics 支援する home, the extent of this かかわり合い may have sounded a little alarming. He spoke of the events of September 11, 2001, as 'a 悲劇の prologue'. The war against Iraq was 'another 行為／法令／行動する, and many その上の struggles will be 始める，決める upon this 行う／開催する／段階 before it's over'.

This is the messianic Tony Blair who evidently 株 George W. Bush's 見通し of a ceaseless struggle against the 軍隊s of evil, and relishes the prospect of apocalyptic and never-ending 衝突／不一致s against as yet 身元不明の enemies, in which British servicemen will be 要求するd, if Mr Blair has his way, to lay 負かす／撃墜する their lives.

It is the Tony Blair who 納得させるd himself that Saddam Hussein's Iraq 所有するd 武器s of 集まり 破壊 (though yesterday he seemingly 暗示するd they might not be 設立する), and that the Iraqi 独裁者 代表するd 'a real and 現在の danger' to this country.

The Tony Blair w 売春婦 will, if unchecked, 乗る，着手する on other perilous and unnecessary adventures.

Such 感情s may be popular in Washington, but they carry いっそう少なく and いっそう少なく 有罪の判決 in this country. Mr Blair's personal standing in the opinion 投票s is at an かつてない low. For the first time in a １０年間, New 労働's lead over the still ineffectual Tories has all but disappeared.

An 増加するing number of 労働 backbenchers are 率直に talking about the 可能性 of 取って代わるing him as leader before the next 選挙.

What happened yesterday afternoon in Washington was, therefore, a 肉親，親類d of fantasy which 耐えるs no 関係 to the true 明言する／公表する of 事件／事情／状勢s. The only question is whether Mr Blair realises this. Or has a monumental self- delusion taken 持つ／拘留する? The ecstatic 歓迎会 of American 政治家，政治屋s is at best an irrelevance, and at worse a hindrance.

It does not 事柄 very much what the American people and their 政治家，政治屋s think of Mr Blair because he does not need their support to remain in 力／強力にする.

If anything, the sight of him standing shoulder to shoulder with George W.

Bush will その上の 損失 his 評判 の中で his critics in the 議会の 労働 Party, 同様に as in the country 捕まらないで.

Mr Blair's 一連の会議、交渉／完成する-the-world trip also looks like a fantastic indulgence on an epic 規模. By the time he returns to London next Thursday, he will have flown from Britain to America and on to Japan. From Tokyo he will go to South Korea before arriving in 中国. Then he will visit Hong Kong.

Within a week he will have travelled nearly 20,000 miles, 圧力（をかける）d the 手渡すs of several world leaders, and been 先触れ（する）d as the international 政治家 he so 明白に wants to be. Most of the leaders who are pleased to 会合，会う him, 同様に as the 元気づける （人が）群がるs, will be blissfully unaware that Mr Blair's standing in his own country - where it 事柄s - is so low.

Will his trip 達成する anything?

Almost certainly not. This 一連の会議、交渉／完成する-the-world jaunt may be very good for Mr Blair's ego but it is ありそうもない to impress the 投票者s and his backbenchers, or to 利益 the country.

It is as though he is 避けるing the reality of life 支援する home - the reality of an ますます 批判的な 労働 Party, and of public services which show no 調印するs of 改良, and in many areas are 現実に 悪化するing.

There might be some 目的 to the frenetic globetrotting if Mr Blair were able to 安全な・保証する some 譲歩s from the Americans. But although Mr Bush is happy to say 罰金 things about his British friend, the U.S.

行政 is 気が進まない to make 譲歩s which it finds inconvenient.

Will the British 総理大臣 説得する the U.S. 大統領 that the two British 国民s held at Guantanamo Bay, who 直面する 裁判，公判 by an American 軍の 法廷，裁判所, should be tried on British 国／地域? It seems little for America's 主要な／長／主犯 同盟（する） to ask, but there is no certainty that Mr Bush is 用意が出来ている to 強いる.

In other 事例／患者s, the Americans are unable to 配達する, even if they 手配中の，お尋ね者 to.

The 同盟（する）s should lay 負かす／撃墜する a （疑いを）晴らす 時刻表／予定表 for 撤退 from Iraq, but they cannot do so because they have become 苦境に陥るd 負かす／撃墜する in the so- called 再建 of Iraq in which a 連合 兵士 is 存在 殺人d every other day.

It may be that even in America and the U.S. 議会 Mr Blair's 評判 stands at an apogee from which it can only 落ちる. Mr Bush is beginning to 苦しむ some 拒絶する／低下する in his personal standing in the 投票s, though not yet to the extent of Mr Blair.

The American 大統領 直面するs 選挙s next year, and a number of Democratic Party 候補者s, most 顕著に Howard Dean, the former 知事 of Vermont, are beginning to ask ぎこちない questions about 武器s of 集まり 破壊 - or their 目だつ absence.

If U.S. 兵士s in Iraq continue to be killed at such an alarming 率 - 33 have died since Mr Bush 宣言するd ten weeks ago that the war was over - there will be 増加するing 国内の disquiet in America which the 民主党員s will undoubtedly 偉業／利用する. M r Blair's messianic rhetoric could やめる soon seem out of date. America may not want the perpetual struggle which he 約束s.

How ironic if the British 総理大臣, who has sought 避難 in international acclaim, and 後継するd in 株ing the world 行う／開催する／段階 with Mr Bush, should 結局最後にはーなる by 存在 拒絶するd in the one place where he was sure he was welcome.

That is why yesterday's speech and the standing ovation may turn out to be doubly meaningless. Mr Blair should not assume that he will always be a hero in Washington.

He 飛行機で行くs from 国内の travails to an international superstardom which is essentially insubstantial. And when he finally returns to earth in his own more 懐疑的な country, he will find that the same difficult questions remain - and that he will have to answer them.