November 14 2003 at 02:27PM
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Washington - It seems like a colossal case of bad timing on both sides of the Atlantic.
As United States President George Bush is on a state visit to Britain, both he and British Prime Minister Tony Blair are mired in slumping approval ratings because of turmoil in Iraq.
Blair stands to lose the most politically from the visit, US and British analysts suggest. Recent polls show a clear majority of British voters think Bush was wrong on Iraq and regard Blair's closeness to the president as bad for Britain.
But Bush's visit, which started on Tuesday and ends on Friday, is becoming a magnet for protesters from all over Europe, with tens of thousands of demonstrators expected to take to the streets.
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Originally intended to be a sparkling celebration of the US-British alliance, the visit was initiated by Queen Elizabeth II and has been in the planning stages for well over a year. Bush and his wife, Laura, will visit Buckingham Palace as the queen's guests.
Cancelling the visit was never an option, Bush administration officials said.
"You know freedom is a beautiful thing and the fact that people are willing to come out and express themselves says I'm going to a great country," Bush said last week.
Blair said despite anti-war sentiment in his country, withdrawing from Iraq "is the worst thing that we could possibly do".
"I believe this is exactly the right time for him to come," Blair asserted.
Buffeted by criticism about Iraq from other world leaders, Bush has found comfort in Blair's stalwart support.
White House political advisers hope, at least, that images of Bush standing alongside Blair and with the queen amid the pomp and ceremony of a state visit will remind Americans that the US is not alone in Iraq.
Such images, however, may have to compete with far more vivid pictures of street demonstrations, American flag burnings and the planned toppling of a mesh statue of Bush in Trafalgar Square during a "Stop Bush" march that organisers predict will draw 60 000 or more demonstrators.
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