Blair supports US decision to expand force in Iraq

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday he supported a US decision to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq, but stressed Britain had no need to deploy additional forces. Blair, speaking in an interview with a local television station in southwestern England, said the United States and Britain remained in step on their policy over Iraq. Bush's decision and an ongoing joint Iraqi-British operation to tackle insurgents in the southern city of Basra shared an aim of transferring security duties to local forces, he said. "In the end that's the purpose in Baghdad and Basra, to put the Iraqis in control," Blair told Westcountry television, adding that he believed Bush's strategy was sensible.