Britain's Tony Blair, warning that the scene has been set for military action in Afghanistan, has posed warrior-like at the head of the US-led campaign against terrorism to the extent that some question whether he is doing a little too much.
As Home Secretary David Blunkett tried to prepare the country for imminent action -- urging the press and public to remain calm -- Blair returned from a hectic diplomatic shuttle aimed at shoring up the international coalition.
"When action starts people will get very jumpy," Blunkett said, "and I want to say three things in relation to that.
"Firstly, reassurance ... that we have taken every step over the last month to make sure we have put in place protection of both facilities and people.
"Secondly, when things do get very difficult we ask our press not to erode and corrode the will to take on the terrorists.
"And thirdly that we will minimize casualties, we will be proportionate and we will need support in doing that because we are dealing with terror, we are dealing with suicide terror."
Osama bin Laden, who is being sheltered by Afghanistan's ruling Taliban, is chief suspect behind the devastating September 11 suicide plane attacks in New York and Washington which killed some 5,000 people.
Blair has spearheaded the global coalition against terrorism forged in the wake of the atrocities, to the extent of overshadowing US President George W. Bush.
Partly that may be politically astute -- Blair has much more international experience than Bush, forged principally over Kosovo, and London is seen as a voice of moderation compared to Washington, so may have more credibility with Arab nations.
In Britain, too, the prime minister has forged a solid political consensus for military action.
But London's role in the seemingly inevitable riposte against bin Laden and the Taliban will be minute compared to the US forces being assembled.
Moreover, when it comes to complementing military action with humanitarian, political and economic clout, it is Washington that rules the waves.
"The sun may never set on World President Blair's ambitions to conquer the planet, but one day he'll have to come back to earth," the respected political commentator Andrew Rawnsley wrote in the Observer.
"Mr Blair is also in danger of giving the impression that he is a co-equal to President Bush," the Independent on Sunday commented in an editorial.
"In reality he is the junior partner who will have limited influence on the course of events."
He had made himself a key global player but, "Mr Blair should occasionally remind himself, there are limits to his power."
Commentators agree the premier has performed in impressively statesmanlike fashion, belying Britain's relatively little clout. It is where he draws the line that is worrying some.
At his ruling Labour Party's annual conference last week, Blair spoke of a new world vision, sorting out the problems in Africa, ending strife, tackling poverty through globalization, saving the environment ...
"Irresponsible adolescent waffle," commentator Minette Marrin complained in the Daily Telegraph.
"His high-minded talk sounded like the crudest of neo-imperialist cultural colonialism."
Similarly, The Economist's famed Bagehot column thought the only plausible reason for Blair's "planet-transforming peroration" was that "the poor man has let the war against terrorism go to his head."
Blair himself, returning from his frantic three-day shuttle between Russia, Pakistan and India, recognizes that the next election will be decided on more mundane domestic matters.
"I never forget why we were re-elected," he told the weekly tabloid News of the World in an open letter: "to deliver economic stability, tackle crime and get better public services, schools and hospitals first” -- LONDON (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
