Blair's terrible legacy: UK soldiers dig in after five killed

While the vultures hovered over Downing Street yesterday, ready to pick at the political carcass of Tony Blair; from Iraq came a timely reminder of the quagmire he has marooned our troops in, and the crime for which he is about to pay the ultimate price.

British troops, who were once greeted here as liberators were attacked as they tried to rescue colleagues who were shot down in a British helicopter.

Mayhem continued elsewhere, with car bombs killing 30 people and injuring 70 in Karbala and Baghdad. On the same day 42 bodies, victims of sectarian attacks, were found in the Iraqi capital, many showing signs of being tortured before being killed. According to official figures more than 100,000 people have fled their homes to escape sectarian violence between Shias and Sunnis in the past three months.

In Basra yesterday the mood was one of trepidation. Mohammed Haidar Ali, a 42-year-old engineer, said: "We do not like this violence, we all want peace. But this was aimed at the British, and, as long as they stay, things like this will continue to happen."

It now appears, with the forces moving to oust Blair seeming unstoppable, that - like his American counterpart - the disaster in Iraq will have to be fixed by his successor, just as Bush has bequeathed such a legacy to whoever follows him.

The sands of Iraq have consumed both of their reputations, and now they look likely to consume at least one of their political lives.

There is a certain grim satisfaction that a price will be paid for their terrible crime and that, in time and I am sure privately, each will come to regret the decision they took when they ignored international law - and world opinion - and arrogantly struck out on their own.

The tragedy is that it will take years to undo the damage these two men have inflicted on Iraq and the wider Middle East.

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Tags: Bush, Blair, Iraq, legacy, quaqmire,