"It came as no surprise when British Prime Minister Tony Blair
said Syria and Iran could be the key to halting bloodshed in Iraq,"
Tao Wenzhao, deputy director of the Institute of American Studies
under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences told China
Daily.
Giving testimony to the US Iraq Study Group, Blair said on
Tuesday that unraveling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the
Middle East's major flash point, would pressure Syria and Iran to
stop supporting terrorism and back peace efforts, a vital step
towards uniting moderate Muslim states to support any new plan for
Iraq.
The study group, a bipartisan Washington commission, is
attempting to promote dialogue with both Iran and Syria and taking
soundings for US President George W. Bush on how to change course
in Iraq.
According to Tao, following a severe setback in last week's
mid-term elections, Bush's Republicans have to rethink their
strategy in Iraq. Democrats seized both houses of Congress, a
victory mainly attributed to voter anger over the war.
Recent political changes in the United States may make it easier
for Blair to get his message across to Americans.
His testimony on Tuesday followed a major foreign policy speech
on Monday in which Blair called for the West to press Iran to help
stem the bloodshed in Iraq and build stability across the Middle
East.
Britain has sent more troops to Iraq than any nation except the
US, and rising violence in the war-shattered country, coupled with
the British body count reaching at least 125, have heightened the
urgency of calls for a change of strategy.
Nevertheless, "it's too early to say whether Britain's close
relationship with the US has been damaged," Fu Mengzi, director of
American Studies of the China Institute of Contemporary
International Relations told China Daily.
Blair, as he has done in the past, perhaps, is using the kind of
language that might help Washington to package what it wants to do,
although it is too early to say whether there will be any change in
Iraq strategy in the foreseeable future.
Iran's president said on Tuesday that he would talk to the US if
Washington changed its attitude.
But Blair ruled out any negotiations with Iran over its
contentious nuclear program in return for support over Iraq.
(China Daily November 16, 2006)
