Meanwhile, as Blair took advice from his closest advisers on the legality of going to war without a U.N. mandate — and refused to divulge what that advice was — Prime Minister's question time on Wednesday was shaping up as his doomsday. The Commons was packed and tense. A gray-faced, exhausted Blair, his voice hoarse, slipped quietly into his seat. Asked whether the U.S. would go to war without the U.K. if there was no second resolution, he said, "What is at stake here isn't whether the U.S. goes alone or not, it is whether the international community is prepared to back up the clear instruction it gave to Saddam Hussein with the necessary action." Blair gave a strong performance, and Labour backbenchers closed ranks behind him — even many of those who are opposed to a war felt that the time for revolt had not yet come.
Such a boost was unthinkable just a week ago, when Clare Short, Blair's outspoken International Development Secretary, shattered the cabinet's facade of solidarity in a Sunday radio interview by threatening resignation and denouncing her boss's policy. (One parliamentary ministerial aide had already quit over Blair's Iraq policy, and others warned that they might follow suit.) Short is admired by the left, but her resignation by itself wouldn't precipitate a crisis of confidence; she quit a shadow cabinet position in 1991 over the last Gulf War. The fear was that she might touch off a wave of cabinet defections.
On Monday evening, after Chirac had vowed to torpedo a second resolution, Blair sailed on anyway, making his case in a televised debate. For an hour he fielded hostile, often sarcastic questions from 20 women passionately opposed to a war. The Prime Minister carefully explained the reasons for his Iraq policy, but was rewarded for his efforts by slow hand claps as the program ended. He didn't let it faze him.
On Tuesday, Rumsfeld — trying to be helpful — pointed out that domestic opposition in the U.K. made it "unclear" whether Britain would be able to join the U.S. in military action. Just when Blair needed to look strong and unyielding, Rumsfeld made him look the opposite. Blair was furious. After a few transatlantic calls, Rumsfeld issued a clarification in which he reaffirmed his confidence in Britain's full military support in a war.
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