Prime Minister Blair, President Bush Defend Stance on Iraq War

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• JIM LEHRER:

  President Bush and Prime Minister Blair say farewell. Ray Suarez has our story.

• RAY SUAREZ:

  After spending the night in the White House bedroom used by Winston Churchill, outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair joined President Bush for a press conference that had a whiff of nostalgia.

  GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States: You know, I was sitting with Tony on the Truman balcony last night, and we were discussing a lot of issues. And it dawned on me, once again, what a clear strategic thinker he is. Somebody asked me the other day, how would you define Tony Blair and your relationship with him? I said, first of all, it's cordial, it's open, and I appreciate the fact that he can see beyond the horizon. And that's the kind of leadership the world needs.

  TONY BLAIR, Prime Minister of Britain: You have been a strong leader at a time when the world needed strong leadership. You've been unyielding and unflinching, and determined in the fight that we face together. And I thank you for that.

  And I also would take this opportunity of saying that I believe that the relationship between the United States of America and Britain is a relationship that is in the interests of our two countries and in the interests of the peace and stability of the wider world.

  And sometimes it's a controversial relationship, at least over in my country. But I've never doubted its importance. I've never doubted that it's based on principle, on shared values, and on a shared purpose, which is to make our world a better, more free, more just place in which people of all nations and all faiths can live.

  So I would like to thank you for the strength, also, of that relationship over these past few years.