British army chief’s remarks highlight Blair’s waning influence

? Is Tony Blair losing control? His army chief’s brazen declaration that British troops should leave Iraq soon is the latest evidence that the once-formidable prime minister – who rode out a fierce party rebellion just last month – may rapidly be losing his political clout.

The catalyst is clearly the Iraq war, which is seen across Britain as a tragic mistake. But Blair’s influence also has suffered because of his close ties to President Bush, who is deeply unpopular in Britain, and in recent months for his support of Bush’s stand that Israel should not be forced into a premature cease-fire in Lebanon.

Blair struggled Friday to stamp out the furor following Gen. Richard Dannatt’s statement that the presence of British troops is provoking violence in Iraq, not preventing it.

The opposition Conservative party, which has branded Blair a lame duck leader since he announced last month that he would resign within a year, said the army chief’s comments were further proof that the Labour leader’s authority was waning.

Dannatt later tried to tone down his remarks, saying he wanted a gradual pullout during the next few years, but he did not back away from them entirely.

And it was too late to quell the debate set off by comments that not long ago would have seemed almost inconceivable.

“The general is just saying what millions of people in this country know to be true from simply reading the papers and watching the news,” said John Rees, a co-founder of the Stop the War Coalition. “He better than anybody knows that the British army isn’t in a position to sustain this. It’s chaos in Iraq.”

A British soldier patrols the streets of Basra, Iraq. Britain's new army chief Gen. Richard Dannatt has called for British troops to withdraw from Iraq soon, warning that the military's presence in Iraq only exacerbates security problems.

Dannatt gave a series of interviews Friday and issued a statement clarifying the remarks he originally made to the Daily Mail newspaper that were dominating the British media.

“The mere fact that we are still in some places (in Iraq) exacerbates violence from those who want to destabilize Iraqi democracy,” his statement said.

“But that is not a reason for us to leave. I am on record publicly saying we’re standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Americans,” he said. “I’m a soldier. We don’t do surrender, we don’t pull down white flags. We will remain in southern Iraq until the job is done. We’re going to see this through.”

Blair said the Daily Mail had twisted Dannatt’s words and taken them out of context.

The prime minister said he agreed with what he saw as the general’s real message: that British troops should leave areas of Iraq as soon as local forces are able to take over security.