Cameron criticises Blair's 'slavish' relationship with Bush

The Tory leader issued a detailed indictment of what he said were the failures of George Bush and Tony Blair since the Sep 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

His criticism of the lack of "patience and humility" of the American and British governments came on the fifth anniversary of the destruction of the Twin Towers.

It coincided with a call from Lady Thatcher, a guest of honour at White House commemoration ceremonies, for Britain not to falter against "Islamist fanatics who hate our beliefs, our liberties and our citizens".

What appeared to be sharply contrasting views between Lady Thatcher and Mr Cameron fuelled speculation of a rift between the leader and pro-American "hawks" on the Tory right.

Mr Cameron risked deepening the rift between the Conservatives and the Bush White House by setting out a carefully-argued critique of neo-conservatism, the right wing American ideology behind the invasion of Iraq.

What amounted to a forensic demolition job on the Bush-Blair record was qualified by an impassioned attack on the drift to anti-Americanism in Britain and abroad, and a strong commitment to the "special relationship".

His first major speech on foreign affairs studiously avoided mentioning the Prime Minister or the President by name, and stayed clear of any personal criticism.

But there was no mistaking the intent of a speech designed to unpick the underpinnings of what Mr Blair and Mr Bush have tried to do in the past five years.

Mr Cameron criticised America's decision to act alone in Iraq, and accused Mr Blair and Mr Bush of opting for military solutions because they provided "dramatic answers" but with "illusory" results.

Addressing the British American Project in London, Mr Cameron said the West had to be "honest" in assessing British and American failings since 9/11.

He said: "Continuing instability in the world, an ever-present threat of terrorism, democracy struggling, often unsuccessfully, to take root in the Middle East, the threat of a nuclear Iran: on any reasonable measure, the challenges are greater today than five years ago.

"And we must recognise something else, that the way we have tried to meet these challenges over the past five years has had unintended and worrying consequences. It has fanned the flames of anti-Americanism, both here in Britain and around the world."

Mr Cameron, who described himself as a "liberal conservative" rather than a neo-conservative, said: "Britain does not need to establish her identity by recklessly poking the United States in the eye, as some like to do. But we will serve neither our own, nor America's, nor the world's interests if we are seen as America's unconditional associate in every endeavour.

"Our duty is to our own citizens, and to our own conception of what is right for the world, we should be solid but not slavish in our friendship with America."

He added: "We have never, until recently, been uncritical allies of America. We have for more than half a century acted as a junior partner to the United States."

As examples of British Prime ministers who were "junior partners" to US presidents, he cited Winston Churchill with Franklin Roosevelt, Margaret Thatcher with Ronald Reagan, and John Major with George Bush Senior.

But he said the Blair government had "lost the art". The Prime Minister has been repeatedly criticised for being "America's poodle".

Mr Cameron, who has often been accused by Labour of being overly influenced by the American right, said he agreed with the broad principles of the neo-conservative approach.

Rejecting some of the apocalyptic language used by American neo-cons to describe a battle between the West and Islam, he said the American and British response had generated sympathy for Islamic terrorists.

He poured scorn on what he believes was the simplistic approach by the Bush administration to the aftermath of the Iraq invasion, saying: "The transformation of a country from tyranny to freedom does not begin and end with regime change and the calling of elections."

And citing the horrific toll of civilian casualties in conflicts since 9/11, he said: "The prospect of war may attract too readily those who look for quick dramatic answera. Such answers often turn out to be illusory."

Mr Cameron also singled out for criticism American unilateralism, whcih saw it press ahead with the Iraq invasion with little international support. "As we have found in recent years, a country may act alone, but it cannot always succeed alone. The US has learned this lesson painfully."

Mr Cameron committed himself to seeking Parliamentary approval for any future decision to order a "substantial deployment" of British troops, effectively pledging to accept the precedent set by Mr Blair in the Commons vote on the Iraq invasion.