11-10-06, 9:05 am

BELLICOSE US President George W Bush is dead in the water as a result of the US mid-term elections, which have been a disaster for his Republican party.

There is no doubt whatsoever that the main cause of his party's electoral defeat has been the war in Iraq.

Even though the Democratic Party largely backed the illegal invasion, it has been able to benefit from the landslide of disillusionment to secure a position where it can clip the president's wings.

The Democrats have no clear policy on what to do next, apart from vague calls for change, but the voters, the US forces and their families are increasingly clear on the need to end the occupation of Iraq and bring the troops home.

The president's poll disaster was an embarrassment for one other squalid politician, our own Prime Minister.

Since Mr Bush was elected, Tony Blair has spared no effort to suck up to him and he has spurned honesty, principle and international law to sign up to the Bush administration's imperialist wars.

Just as in the US, the price of the British government's warmongering has been paid by the people.

It has been paid by those, including the pensioners, who could have made good use of the £7 billion frittered away on the Iraq war.

It has been paid by Britain's Muslim communities who have been singled out for special treatment by an increasingly authoritarian state.

And it has been paid by all of us who are in more danger of terrorist attack today as a result of the Prime Minister's wanton disregard for international law.

The writing is on the wall today for both of these war criminals. One has already wrecked his party's electoral hopes. The other will do the same if he is allowed to hang around much longer.

From Morning Star