Fighting The Tide

Tony Blair had never taken such a beating. Last week the British Prime Minister suffered the biggest back-bench defection of any government of the past century. While previous Prime Ministers, such as Anthony Eden and Neville Chamberlain, lost their jobs over military actions that went badly, Blair got bludgeoned for a war that hasn't yet begun.

When an antigovernment motion stating that the case for war against Saddam Hussein is "as yet unproven" was supported by 121 Labour Members of Parliament — nearly a third of Blair's total parliamentary contingent — Blair held to his position like...