One of Ours

A defiant Tony Blair faced down his critics last night and delivered an unequivocal message that he has no intention of standing down or "cutting and running in Iraq".

A clearly furious prime minister insisted that yesterday's assassination of Abdul Zahra Othman, the chairman of the Iraqi governing council, only cemented his determination to remain in Iraq to "get the job done".

...the prime minister told a press conference in the Turkish capital: "Of course it's difficult at the moment but the task of leadership is precisely not cut and run but to face difficulties and overcome them."

[...]

Buoyed by the support of ministers from across the party, Mr Blair used his press conference in Ankara to underline his determination to create a democratic Iraq. In remarks, which clearly referred to his own position, he said: "Have we got the will to see it through to a country that is stable and democratic and operates in the best interests of the majority of the Iraqi people? My answer to that is: we have the will. We have the leadership to do it. We will get the job done and we will continue until the job is done. There will be no cutting and running, we will continue until the job is done."

[...]

But British officials made clear that Mr Blair is determined to press on in Iraq by announcing within the next two months further troop deployments to Iraq. These are expected to number 4,000.

...they want to show that Britain and the US are working towards leaving Iraq but this can only be achieved once Iraq is stable - and that needs troops...