From a reader:

Jonah, The way I look at Blair’s situation is the same as Lieberman’s: he has taken a strong, morally justified position in defiance of his party – and is now paying for it. It is not clear that the Labour Party was in it (the hot part of the GWOT) for the long term and it seems much of Blair’s problem relates to his party’s dissatisfaction with his position on the War in Iraq. While Lieberman is a stand-up Dem from the GOP’s point of view, the CT Dems have thrown him under the bus. Same with Blair. No American has been focused on contracts and steel quotas, but it is evident that the British were and any backroom assurances that Blair made to keep his ministers in line did not come through. But the alliance will suffer no permanent damage – hell, we are still speaking to them and they burned down the White House!