Bush, Blair express confidence of victory

WASHINGTON -- President Bush and British Prime Minster Tony Blair, allies in the war on terrorism, confidently offered back-to-back pledges of victory on Wednesday, no matter how long it takes.

"We're patient and our close friends are patient, which is bad news for the Taliban and the people they harbor," Bush said at a White House news conference, following more than an hour of talks between the two men.

"The determination to see that justice is done is every bit as strong today as it was on Sept. 11," said Blair, who crossed the Atlantic aboard the supersonic Condorde, arriving less than two hours before making his way to the White House for a meeting with the president.

Even as they predicted victory over the al-Qaida network in Afghanistan, Bush and Blair both said they were working to achieve peace in the Middle East.

Blair said that Osama bin Laden wanted to "hijack" the Palestinian cause for his own purposes. "We will strain every sinew" to make progress in bringing peace to the Israelis and Palestinians.

Bin Laden is the suspected mastermind behind the terrorist attacks that killed thousands in Washington, New York and Pennsylvania. The shocking attacks prompted Bush to declare war on terrorism, and led to a series of financial, military and diplomatic steps to achieve victory.

Blair's visit to the White House was only the latest step in the campaign against terrorism, a war the British have backed both rhetorically and with the commitment of military resources.

The British prime minister, under pressure to halt the bombings, sped to Washington aboard a chartered supersonic jet for his second meeting with Bush since the Sept. 11 attacks. The two planned to meet and have dinner, then Blair was flying back to London to greet Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the leader of Pakistan.