By British standards, it was hardly an impertinent question, but the inquiry from the veteran correspondent was enough to make several members of the White House press corps gasp: Was George Bush, the president of the United States, "in denial" about the state of Iraq today?

The answer was as blunt & folksy as the president himself. "It's bad in Iraq. That help?" snapped Mr Bush before unloading on the man who flew in from London the night before, like many others scenting a potentially historic turning point in the bloody story of Iraq & the US' war on terrorism.

"Make no mistake about it, sir, I understand how bad it is, I talk to the families who die," Mr Bush went on, leaning forward past his podium to hammer home his point with a string of trademark malapropisms.

Coming from the man who started the war in Iraq, the war that has cost scores of thousands of lives & hundreds of billions of dollars, the president's lengthy & impassioned reply was remarkable enough. But what was all the more unusual was the reaction of the man standing next to him.

As the presidential tirade abated, Tony Blair, who also arrived in Washington late the night before, relaxed & cracked a joke: "You've made a friend there," he told Mr Bush.