The British Prime Minister Tony Blair claimed tonight that history would forgive America and Britain for invading Iraq, even if they were proved wrong aboutthe threat from its weapons of mass destruction.
Defending the war, Blair told a jointmeeting of the US Congress that toppling former IraqiPresident Saddam Hussein was justified irrespective of thesuspected armament that has failed to materialize.
"Can we be sure that terrorism and WMD will join together?Let us say one thing: If we are wrong we will have destroyed athreat that at its least is responsible for inhuman carnage andsuffering," Blair said in what was billed as one of the mostimportant foreign speeches of his six-year premiership.
"That is something I am confident history will forgive."
Blair and US President George W. Bush are under pressure forallegedly 'sexing up' the threat from Iraq's weapons - theirprimary motive for the war - to justify the conflict.
What should have been a period of triumph after a swiftmilitary campaign has turned into a nightmare for the allies.
Political chaos grips parts of Iraq, troops are underattack and public trust in Blair has slumped while Bush'sapproval ratings have slipped since the war ended.
Blair was due to meet Bush after his speech to Congress ina meeting meant to reinforce a special relationship that hasbeen strained recently by controversy over whether disputedBritish intelligence on Iraq's alleged nuclear program was usedby Bush as an excuse to attack Saddam.
Blair remained adamant over the justification for war.
"But if our critics are wrong, if we are right, as Ibelieve with every fiber and instinct of conviction I have thatwe are, and we do not act, then we will have hesitated in theface of this menace when we should have given leadership, thatis something history will not forgive," he said.
Becoming only the fourth British prime minister to addressa joint meeting of the US Congress, Blair also sought todeflect criticism that he was "Bush's poodle."
He said the United States must remain committed to thereconstruction of Iraq and to the Middle East peace process,which he said was crucial to the fight against terrorism.
He made a brief mention of the Kyoto protocol on greenhousegas emissions, which Bush pulled out of, and asked Bush not to"give up on Europe."
"America must listen as well as lead," Blair said, adding:"But don't ever apologise for your values."
Later, Blair was due to press Bush over US plans to tryBritish terror suspects being held at the US military base inGuantanamo Bay in Cuba in military courts.
The issue has caused an uproar in Britain with commentatorscalling on Blair to prove that he has influence over Bush.
The prison was set up to house Taliban and al Qaedasuspects captured primarily in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11,2001, attacks on the United States. Inmates can face a possibledeath sentence. Britain opposes capital punishment.
Earlier, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said thematter of the British detainees was "under discussion."
While Blair continues to face questions about weapons ofmass destruction, Bush has come under fierce fire fromDemocrats over the almost daily deaths of U.S. soldiers inguerrilla attacks in Iraq and his disputed allegation thatSaddam tried to buy uranium in Africa.
US officials said they did not expect Bush and Blair tospend much time discussing the intelligence on the Iraq nuclearprogram that has been discounted by the CIA but adamantlydefended by Blair. Nor did they expect the president to ask theprime minister to publicly release the British intelligence.
But Democratic Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts calledon Blair to reveal his sources.
"Our own CIA doesn't know what you know," Markey said in awritten statement. "The President of United States says hedoesn't know what you know. The American public needs to knowthe truth."