Blair: "I am a human being"

When British Prime Minister Tony Blair steps down on June 27th, he will leave behind an unstable Iraq and torn political relations with the US government.  At least 150 British troops have been killed in Iraq under his watch, as have thousands of Iraqi civilians.

In the years ahead, Blair will need to repair his legacy.  He's starting one week early:

He told members of a Commons Liaison Committeehearing that the root of the current crisis in Iraq wasn't decisions hehad made in the past, ''what has created the problem is that the peoplewe're fighting have decided to give us a problem,'' he said.

''What they have decided is, that if they can hangon long enough, in Iraq or in Afghanistan or anywhere else then we willlose the will and that's their argument,'' he added.

Blair also said he accepted ''a deep and profound sense of responsibility for what has happened,'' in Iraq and Afghanistan.

''Anybodywho's ever sent people into action, particularly when our troops arekilled and doesn't feel the weight of that responsibility is not ahuman being and I am a human being,'' Blair said.

Many Britons are ready to move on, including the Queen of England herself, who reportedly has been "exasperated and frustrated" with Blair's decade-long reign in power.

In related news, Britain's highest court has agreed to hear a case from two military mothers that want to challenge the legality of the war.