Britain will ‘see the job through’ in Iraq. But ‘the job’ has changed completely

The perfect political U-turn is formed by an arc that curves so gradually that it is difficult to perceive any change of direction. Even now it is hard to pinpoint when, exactly, the British government gave up on Iraq. But in Westminster the mood change is discernible and the new direction clear. An inflection point has been reached where hope of a democratic, stable country — the original vision at the time of invasion — has been abandoned. The mission is now defined as handing over Iraq to the Iraqis, whether stable or not.

The pace is being set in Washington, as it was in the months before the invasion. American minds are focused by the mid-term elections next month, and the stance of the Bush administration on Iraq is changing at a pace with which the Blair government finds it hard to keep up. Only recently the Prime Minister was saying he will ‘stay the course’ in Iraq — yet last Monday the White House said the President has dropped the phrase and will never use it again.