COLLEGE STATION, Texas — British Prime Minister Tony Blair emerged from weekend meetings with President Bush to throw his support behind U.S. plans to oust Saddam Hussein, risking political fallout at home.
"The regime of Saddam is detestable," the prime minister said hours after leaving Bush's ranch Sunday.
"To allow weapons of mass destruction to be developed by a state like Iraq . . . would be grossly to ignore the lessons of Sept. 11, and we will not do it," Blair told more than 1,000 people at the presidential library of Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, at Texas A&M University here.
The elder Bush, who introduced Blair, pushed back Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, but was criticized for ending the Persian Gulf War with Saddam still in power.
Blair's remarks, the strongest signal yet he would support U.S. attacks on Iraq, were a last-minute addition to his speech — drafted Saturday night and Sunday morning while the prime minister visited Bush at the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas.
The address came as other U.S. allies are questioning Bush's plans for Iraq.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin, in remarks published Sunday, urged the United States to refrain from military action against Iraq. "International disputes cannot be solved by force," he said.
Blair faces mounting pressure in Britain, including from members of his Labor Party, to steer Bush away from military action against Saddam.
Treading carefully, Blair initially named no countries when he said terrorist states must be confronted.
"If necessary, the action should be military and again, if necessary and justified, it should involve regime change," he said. Bush uses "regime change" to describe what he has in store for Saddam.
Blair quickly followed the general warning with a specific one to Saddam: "He has to let the (U.N. weapons) inspectors back in — anyone, any time, any place the international community demands."
Blair spent parts of three days on Bush ranch to discuss Iraq and the mounting crisis in the Middle East. At the Bush library, Blair urged the Saudis to put in the form of a U.N. resolution its proposal to offer Israel "normal relations" in exchange for a full withdrawal from Arab lands held since 1967.
The prime minister viewed the call as a way to throw his support behind the principles of the Saudi plan, but not necessarily every detail of the sweeping proposal, an aide said.
On Iraq, Blair suggested that any action against Saddam will not occur right away.
"We will proceed, as we did after September 11, in a calm, measured, sensible but firm way," he said.
Like Bush, Blair said terrorism can be curbed not just by military action, but also by cutting off financing to groups such as al-Qaida. Military action is not the only option for Saddam; he could be undercut by diplomatic pressure or covert backing of internal opponents, U.S. officials say.
The president calls Saddam a threat to the world, accusing him of producing weapons of mass destruction that could be used by Iraq's terrorist allies.
Said Blair: "We cannot, of course, intervene in all cases ... but where countries are engaged in terror or the (weapons of mass destruction) business, we should not shirk from confronting them."
He said nations such as Syria, Iran and North Korea still can change enough to avoid retribution. But he seemed to hold out little hope for Iraq.
"It is a regime without a qualm in sacrificing the lives of its citizens to preserve itself," he said.