Standing Up To Bush

Tony Blair has stuck by his friend and ally George W. Bush on Iraq despite growing opposition back home and plummeting poll ratings. But an issue has emerged that may force the British Prime Minister to stand up and tell Bush, "No more." As Blair heads for Washington this week to address Congress, most of the British political establishment is pressuring him to protest the Pentagon's announcement that two Britons held in isolation at Camp Delta, the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, won't be returned to Britain for trial despite repeated requests. Instead, the two are expected to face U.S. military tribunals, whose due-process standards are criticized throughout Europe as shameful. The two men have spent months locked up but, like all the estimated 680 other inmates from 42 countries, have been denied lawyers and not been charged. In a military tribunal, other protections of the civilian U.S. justice system would be denied them. They would be required to use a U.S. military lawyer, for example, and not allowed to see "secret" evidence. For the Brits, what especially rankles is the contrast between these suspects' treatment and that accorded John Walker Lindh, the "American Taliban" caught in Afghanistan like many Guantanamo inmates but given the full protections of a U.S. court. "Guantanamo is bad enough," says a British official, "but the worst thing is that we fought alongside the U.S. in Afghanistan and Iraq and suffered casualties, and in the aftermath [U.S.] citizens are treated differently." In the House of Commons, Blair has taken heat from all sides. "Put your foot down, Prime Minister!" urged an M.P. of his own party.

U.S. officials say the military tribunals offer important safeguards, like the presumption of innocence and the requirement of proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. But amid a growing outcry over faulty intelligence on weapons of mass destruction, Blair can ill afford to go along with Bush on this matter. In his appearance before Congress, Blair is expected to "speak truth to power," says a U.S. diplomat, if only for the benefit of the folks back home. --By J.F.O. McAllister, with reporting by Viveca Novak