Blair says Britain will stand by United States `when the shooting starts'

LONDON (AP) _ Britain is prepared to shed blood to support its friend and ally the United States, Prime Minister Tony Blair said in comments broadcast Friday. <br><br>In a British Broadcasting Corp. documentary,

Friday, September 6th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LONDON (AP) _ Britain is prepared to shed blood to support its friend and ally the United States, Prime Minister Tony Blair said in comments broadcast Friday.

In a British Broadcasting Corp. documentary, to be screened in full on Sunday, Blair said the two countries' ``special relationship'' had to be backed up with action.

Asked whether Britain was prepared to pay a ``blood price'' to support the United States, Blair answered affirmatively.

``What is important ... is that at moments of crisis they don't need to know simply that you are giving general expressions of support and sympathy,'' Blair said.

``That is easy, frankly. They need to know: Are you prepared to commit, are you prepared to be there when the shooting starts?''

Blair has been President Bush's staunchest ally in the war on terrorism and has backed in principle a military attack to topple Iraq's Saddam Hussein, despite strong reservations at home.

Religious leaders, ordinary Britons and members of Blair's own Labor Party have expressed opposition to war. In a survey of 100 non-Cabinet Labor lawmakers by the BBC, 88 said there were currently insufficient grounds to declare war on Iraq.

Many lawmakers feel they should be allowed to vote on military action. Labor legislator Glenda Jackson said Friday that she had written to Blair asking for Parliament to be recalled from its summer break for a debate on Iraq.

``I think it would be extremely serious if we slid into some kind of all-out military action against Iraq,'' Jackson _ an Oscar-winning actress turned politician _ told the BBC.

``Let's see the evidence,'' she said. ``To exclude the concerns of the British people, which is best voiced in Parliament, seems to me to be a grievous, grievous error on the part of the government.''

Asked about Iraq in the documentary, ``Hotline to the President,'' Blair said he would ``never back America if I thought they were doing something wrong.

``If I thought that by committing military action in a way that was wrong, I would not support it,'' he said. ``But I have never found that and I don't expect to find it in the future.''

Blair, who will meet Bush at the president's Camp David retreat on Saturday, said no decision had yet been taken on how to ensure Saddam did not maintain chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.

``We are not at the stage of decision on Iraq, and there are all sorts of different ways in which we might decide to deal with this Iraqi problem in the end,'' he said.