Bush, Blair Pledge to Preserve U.S.-British Ties

President Bush, in his first meeting with a European leader, made a strenuous case Friday for a missile defense system, saying that “it makes a lot of sense” to seek protection against an accidental missile launch or “potential blackmail.”

In response, visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he now believes “even more firmly” that the controversial concept should be further debated and explored.

At the same time, the prime minister won Bush’s support for a European military force, sought by Blair, to engage in peacekeeping and humanitarian missions when NATO opts out of such undertakings.

The exchange of views came as the two leaders vowed to preserve the “special relationship” that has characterized U.S.-British relations and that Bush said now will be buttressed by their friendship.

“This is a fantastic legacy for both of us to inherit. And it’s a legacy that I take seriously, and it’s a legacy that I will work hard to protect,” Bush said. “I can assure you that when either of us get in a bind, there will be a friend on the other end of the phone.”

At a joint news conference with Blair at Camp David, Bush also disclosed that China on Friday told the White House that it would “remedy the situation” if any of its people had a role in helping Iraq build radar and communications facilities. That response came after Washington asked Beijing whether China had any such involvement.

Asked Friday if he trusts the reassurances from Beijing, Bush replied, “I think you’ve always got to begin with trust until proven otherwise.”

Later, Mary Ellen Countryman, a spokeswoman for National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, said Rice had “nothing to elaborate” beyond Bush’s comments about the communication from China.

Both Blair and Bush seemed relaxed--even playful at points--in what was the president’s third news conference in eight days. On Feb. 16, Bush held a joint news conference in San Cristobal, Mexico, while visiting Mexican President Vicente Fox. Bush held a solo news conference in the White House on Thursday afternoon.

When one reporter here asked the two leaders what they have in common, Bush jumped in, “Well, we both use Colgate toothpaste.”

To which Blair added, “They are going to wonder how you know that, George.”

Bush then added that they also share a passion for exercise, have “great wives” and are “loving dads.”

Both men were in casual attire--blue shirts and blue sweaters. Bush also had on a brown leather jacket. The president opened by praising Blair, saying the prime minister had “put the charm offensive on me--and it worked.”

Blair characterized their talks, in part during a sun-drenched afternoon stroll on the snow-covered grounds of the presidential retreat in Maryland, as “absolutely excellent, very productive--as I hoped and expected.”

Blair’s reaction to the new president has been eagerly awaited in part because he got along so famously with President Clinton, with whom he is much more philosophically attuned.

But during their 25-minute news conference, Blair and Bush downplayed those differences.

“We’ve got a lot of common interests,” Bush said. “We agree on trade. We agree on ways to keep the peace. But most important, both of us recognize that this is a special relationship . . . and we’re going to keep it that way.”

Bush told reporters that when he described the need for a missile defense system, “the prime minister asked a lot of really good questions.”

Unlike most European leaders, Blair has remained somewhat open to the possibility of a missile defense system. And his comments here about such a system was a boost for Bush.

“I welcome very much the approach that the administration has taken, which is to be very open about this,” Blair said.

For his part, Bush told a reporter who raised the possibility that the U.S. might have to go it alone on missile defense: “I don’t think I’m going to fail to persuade people,” adding that such a defense should be “common-sensical.”

Bush also characterized as “a breakthrough of sorts” a recent statement by Russian President Vladimir V. Putin that appeared to suggest that Moscow might be willing to lessen its opposition to such a system.

Bush and Blair also discussed in detail ways to increase the effectiveness of the international sanctions against Iraq, which the president said are so full of holes as to resemble “Swiss cheese.” One way, he said, is to increase global support for the sanctions.

At the same time, the president said he and Blair will seek ways to lessen the suffering that the sanctions inflict on the Iraqi people.

“First, our beef is not with the people of Iraq. It is with [Iraqi President] Saddam Hussein,” Bush said. “To the extent the sanctions are hurting the Iraqi people, we’re going to analyze that.”

But even a softening of sanctions “should not in any way, shape or form embolden Saddam Hussein,” Bush warned. “He has got to understand that we are going to watch him carefully and, if we catch him developing weapons of mass destruction, we’ll take the appropriate action.”

Bush expressed his support for a rapid-reaction European military force after Blair assured him that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will remain the primary peacekeeping force in Europe.

Elaborating, Blair told reporters that such a European force would be deployed only “in circumstances where NATO as a whole chooses not to be engaged. . . . It is not a standing army; it is a capability that Europe should have.”

On Northern Ireland, Bush asked Blair whether he can help move the peace process in the British province along. Blair said that although he appreciates Bush’s gesture, “I can’t exactly foresee the circumstances in which the American president can come in and be of help.”