LONDON — British Prime Minister Tony Blair is coming to Washington bearing support for President Clinton, a call to order--"Politics shouldn't be run at the level of a gossip column"--and blunt warnings to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
"I'm proud to call Bill Clinton a friend," Blair told American correspondents here Monday. "What is important is that he and other world leaders don't get deflected . . . from dealing with the big-picture issues. That's precisely what he's doing. . . . That's what the people who elected us expect us to do."
A social reformer with a powerful mandate, Blair arrives Wednesday for a four-day state visit, his first as leader of the United States' closest ally. Iraq and Northern Ireland head the summit agenda, but Blair will have ample chance to combine friendship and statesmanship.
He chose his words with obvious thought and great care in answering reporters' questions about Clinton's troubles--a sex scandal and intimations that he may have lied about it and encouraged others to do so.
High popularity ratings for Clinton should not be surprising, Blair said. "I think that the public in the end is more canny than sometimes the media gives them credit for," said Blair, listing matters ranging from Iraq to the State of the Union address on which Clinton has focused despite the recent uproar. "He's absolutely right to do it, because that's what the people who elected us expect us to do."
The Blairs and the Clintons, four lawyers including two leaders with similar policies, cemented their bond on a presidential visit here last year. Blair's Washington red carpet will include a 19-gun salute, a state banquet, a joint news conference and a microphone at Clinton's Saturday radio show.
Blair, 44, and his wife, Cherie, will stay at Blair House, no relation, as well as one night at Camp David.
British reporters in Washington portray the visit as a calculated "love-in" to bolster Clinton. "Blair remains a glamorous international newcomer in American eyes, and the White House is doing everything possible to exploit the personal and political empathy between the two leaders," said Martin Kettle in the Guardian.
Meeting the American reporters in the Cabinet room at 10 Downing St., Blair pledged unreserved support for Clinton's stand against Iraq. "I have no doubt at all that we will be ready to act when we need to act," he said.
