You can say this for British Prime Minister Tony Blair: He isn't easily cowed. That trait can be a weakness, but it also makes him the United States' most important ally in the war against terror.

Blair lost a big vote in Parliament last week. His proposal was to increase to 90 days the time terror suspects can be held without being charged, up from the current 14. That idea went down to inglorious defeat, only to be replaced by a more modest 28-day limit.

It is a debate that goes to the heart of the way civilized nations respond to terrorism. Blair insists that it takes time to build a case against potential suicide bombers and others bent on terrorist activities. But freedom-loving Western governments, including the United States, have long prided themselves on guaranteeing that people won't be held long without being charged.

In the United States, the Patriot Act has brought a similar clash between law enforcement and civil libertarians. Free societies want to protect themselves from attack, but they don't want to do so at the risk of the guarantees that are the very essence of freedom itself. Unlike in a conventional war, the war on terrorism has no foreseeable conclusion, which means any infringements on freedom could last forever.

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Blair didn't shrug off the defeat. Instead, he said members of Parliament "don't quite know what we're up against." He gives every indication that his dedication toward the cause is more important than his own political career — a curious, but refreshing, attitude.

Blair and President Bush share a common Achilles heel. It is that their zeal sometimes gets in the way of their respect for human rights. The president's untoward opposition to legislation that would outlaw the torture of prisoners is a prime example of this.

But even that kind of misguided zeal is preferable to the many voices who would withdraw coalition forces today, turning a fledgling Iraq over to the whims of terrorists and opportunists. We wish there were more moderate voices calling for a continuation of nation-building in Iraq within reasonable restraints.

That is especially true in Britain, where many now say Blair's power is seriously diminished. There don't seem to be many replacements in the wings who understand what is at stake the way Blair does.

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