If Britain and the US were wrong about Iraq, history would forgive them for removing the tyranny of the Saddam Hussein regime, the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, told a joint session of the US Houses of Congress last night, writes Conor O'Clery, North America Editor
In a strong speech interrupted by upwards of 20 standing ovations, Mr Blair put the war on Iraq in the context of a wider war against the "new and deadly virus" of terrorism in which Europe and America must stand together.
"In some cases, where our security is under direct threat, we will have recourse to arms," he said, as if warning of more conflicts to come. "In others, it will be by force of reason," he said.
"Can we be sure that terrorism and weapons of mass destruction will join together? Let us say one thing. If we are wrong, we will have destroyed a threat that, at its least, is responsible for inhuman carnage and suffering. That is something I am confident history will forgive.
"But if our critics are wrong, if we are right as I believe with every fibre of instinct and conviction I have that we are, and we do not act, then we will have hesitated in face of this menace, when we should have given leadership. That is something history will not forgive."
Mr Blair's speech, only the fourth in history by a British leader to Congress, was a clear attempt to elevate the tone of the debate over Iraq as evidence grows that the US and Britain were indeed wrong about the reason for going to war - something Mr Blair appeared to be acknowledging for the first time.
It was delivered from the same spot where President Bush made his now discredited claim in January that Iraq tried to buy uranium from Africa.
Referring to differences between the US and some European countries over the war, Mr Blair warned that creating a competing pole in Europe was an anachronism to be discarded - a clear reference to France - and if Europe and America split "nothing but mischief will be a result of it. To be a serious partner Europe must defeat the anti-Americanism that sometimes passes for its political discourse," he said. But "don't give up on Europe."
And in a clear criticism of the style of the Bush administration, he said that the "the world's security cannot be protected without the world's heart being won." America should "listen as well as lead" in the struggle against terrorism. "There has never been a time," he said, "when the power of America was so necessary or so misunderstood".
Mr Blair went on to urge the need for a Middle East peace settlement, saying: "This terrorism will not be defeated without peace in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine. Here it is that the poison is incubated."
Mr Blair thanked Mr Bush and former President Bill Clinton and members of Congress for "our attempts to bring peace to Northern Ireland" - which also drew a standing ovation.
He concluded with a paean of praise for America. Destiny had put the US "in this place in history, in this moment in time and the task is yours to do," he said. "Our job is to be there with you."