Meyer: Blair 'sealed' US reputation after 9/11
British popular in Washington, but had limited access, Meyer remembers
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Thursday, 26, Nov 2009 12:00
By Alex Stevenson
Tony Blair was so effective in sealing his close relationship with George Bush after the September 11th terrorist attacks that being ambassador in Washington was a "heady and exhilarating" experience, Sir Christopher Meyer has said.
Giving evidence on the third day of public sessions at the Iraq inquiry, the former diplomat - who was the British ambassador to the United States from 1997 to 2003 - said he had to be careful "not to get swept away" by pro-British feeling in the US after the terrorist attack.
He suggested Mr Blair'sposition on Iraq was cemented by the time he met with George Bush in 2002.
Sir Christopher said Mr Blair's October 2001 speech to the Labour party conference, in which he pledged Britain would stay with the US "to the last", had "sealed" the ex-PM's reputation.
"The man, above all other Europeans who came first out of the slips, who first expressed sympathy and support for America in its hour of need, with unparalleled eloquence... [his] speech resonated enormously," he said.
When combined with the Stars and Stripes being performed at the Changing of the Guard, an event which made national security adviser Condoleezza Rice break down in tears when she saw it on the television, pro-British sentiment in America at the time was overwhelming, Sir Christopher suggested.
"To be the ambassador in the United States of America in the slipstream of this stuff was, and I make no bones about it, a heady and exhilarating experience," he added.
"People would rise to their feet and give you a strong round of applause. You had to be careful not to be swept away by this stuff."
While US feelings were pro-Britain, Sir Christopher was acutely aware of the limits of British influence on the fundamental divide emerging in Washington at that time.
Many in George Bush's administration wanted to associate Saddam Hussein with the September 11th attacks, but the state department under Colin Powell was more resistant.
Sir Christopher described how his embassy sent back "enormous amounts" of advice back to the Foreign Office at this stage on how the situation was moving.
Only a few ministers warranted access to key players like Gen Powell, Dr Rice, vice president Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, however.
On the question of whether or not international support for a move against Saddam's Iraq might be required, Sir Christopher told ministers that different offices held different agendas.
"You didn't have to argue that with the state department," he remembered.
"You sure as hell had to argue with the vice president, and with Rumsfeld, and up to a point with Condoleezza Rice."