London — British Prime Minister Tony Blair, clearly worried about his falling political popularity, said Tuesday that "there is no rush to war" in Iraq, and pleaded with a skeptical public to listen to his arguments about the need to disarm Saddam Hussein, even if it requires force.
"There is not an inexorable decision to go to war, but there is an inexorable decision to disarm Saddam Hussein," Mr. Blair told an hour-long news conference dominated by the Iraqi issue.
As a public-opinion survey showed another fall in his personal popularity and a clear majority of Britons opposed to war in Iraq, Mr. Blair urged those against military action in Iraq to think not just of the need to disarm Iraq but of the good that will come of ridding the country of a ruthless dictator.
"If we do have to take military action, we do so in the sure knowledge that we are removing one of the most barbarous and detestable regimes in modern political history," Mr. Blair said.
The Prime Minister, who has never faced such persistent opposition to a major policy in his five years as leader, clearly is frustrated by his inability to convince Britons of his view on Iraq.
Again and again during the news conference, Mr. Blair referred to public-opinion surveys and what he understands as the reasons why the British public opposes his Iraq policy.
"Look, I don't pretend to have a monopoly of wisdom on these issues or that I always know what is right and everyone else is wrong," Mr. Blair said. "I don't say that at all. I totally understand why people want to march and protest against what we are doing.
"I just ask people to listen to the other side of the argument."
At least 750,000 protesters converged on central London during the weekend for a protest against war in Iraq that the news media called the biggest demonstration Britain has yet seen.
A public-opinion survey published Tuesday by The Guardian newspaper showed that only 35 per cent of those surveyed were satisfied with the job being done by Mr. Blair, compared with 55 per cent who were dissatisfied. At the same time, 52 per cent of Britons disapprove of a military attack on Iraq, up from only 40 per cent in November. Support for war has dropped to 29 per cent.
Mr. Blair tried to put a positive gloss on those numbers, saying that if the public is told there will be a second UN resolution authorizing force, "you get very large majorities in favour of action."
Mr. Blair said that while the basis of the mandate at the UN Security Council remains disarming Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction, he believes it is his job to "persuade people of the moral case for removing Saddam."
To back up that case, he asked those opposed to the war to listen to the views of Iraqi exiles who want to see Mr. Hussein removed from power, and asked his critics to consider that there are "also consequences of not taking action in terms of bloodshed because there are people in Iraq who are suffering daily."
Mr. Blair reiterated that he prefers to see a second resolution passed by the Security Council before military action begins, but he gave no indication of a preferred time line to war.
Despite the disappointing survey numbers, those figuring Mr. Blair soon will be looking for another job probably are mistaken. His Labour Party remains comfortably ahead of the opposition Conservatives with 39 per cent of the vote to the Tories' 31 per cent and, more important, 71 per cent of Labour voters say they are satisfied with his work as Prime Minister.
Mr. Blair is to meet with Pope John Paul in Rome on Saturday after talks with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who shares his pro-Washington stance. The Pope has become a major antiwar voice, meeting last week with Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, and Tuesday with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
