Press sees strains in UK-US ties

Bush and Blair face mounting criticism over the Iraq dossiers

On the eve of talks between UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W Bush in Washington, newspapers worldwide comment on the debacle over Iraq's elusive weapons of mass destruction.

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The issue of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction is turning out to be... a political and security scandal, and it is expected to have substantial negative implications for Tony Blair's government and the forthcoming US presidential elections.

Al-Thawrah - Syria

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As for Blair, the Iraq war has cursed him and his party and will not save his political future. He has no choice but to sit in silence.

Al-Shams - Libya

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The USA fears resistance in Iraq... There is no readiness among the Americans to bear human losses or the ghost of Vietnam.

Al-Khalij - UAE

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What if only a few weeks after the rapid capture of Baghdad the summer offered us the spectacle of a global Iraqgate? ... The coming weeks will be fascinating, very dangerous for the two leaders.

Le Temps - Switzerland

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Whatever they [Bush and Blair] may have achieved with their bombs and missiles in Iraq, it is overshadowed by the suspicion, which is being confirmed ever more, that for the sake of the war they grotesquely exaggerated the threat posed by Saddam Hussein.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung - Germany

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There is a grim inevitability about the deteriorating situation in post-war Iraq and the political fallout that is beginning to hurt George Bush and Tony Blair... One might be tempted to gloat, given the arrogance with which those leaders brushed aside world opinion, but the implications for global security and the danger of terrorism becoming more contagious are too serious.

Star - South Africa

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How many more countries are going to be attacked on the basis of falsehoods?... Bush should apologize to Africans and their leaders for dragging them into this and portraying them as terrorist-huggers.

Sowetan - South Africa

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Bush and Blair should... be held accountable. Leaders cannot take the world to war on the basis of manipulated intelligence, and afterwards claim that it was not their fault that the intelligence was false. This is too dangerous a precedent.

New Vision - Uganda

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The long noses of Bush and Blair are like the lying Pinocchio, and are getting longer and longer... If the reason for attacking Iraq is all 'US-British-made' rubbish, then this pair of long-nosed brothers should be handed over to an international court to be dealt with."

Nan Yang Siang Pau - Malaysia

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The consequences of the Iraq war create acute problems in the relations between the winners. Special services of both countries have got into a squabble over the misinformation on the basis of which the military operation was launched... In Britain, there are loud calls for Blair to resign... This time the meeting in the White House will not be simply a demonstration of 'manly friendship' between Bush and Blair, but to a certain extent a test of its strength.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta - Russia

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.