A visit from an American President should be a triumphal event.

The United States has been our staunchest ally through some of Britain's darkest times.

But next week's visit by George W Bush is promising to be a disaster.

It will lead to massive demonstrations which will damage UK-US relations and Tony Blair.

The Prime Minister insists that this is the right time for the President to come here.

The only way that could be right is if Mr. Bush was to become even more unpopular than he is now.

This visit is a reminder of the shambolic way in which Britain got involved in the war to remove Saddam Hussein without a shred of evidence that he was a danger to world peace.

The essential thing now is to move forward. To recognise what has happened in Iraq and work out how we can get out as quickly as possible while bringing in other nations to help with peace- keeping.

Seeing U.S. President Bush on the streets of London is not going to achieve that. It will do the opposite.

It is a provocation that could have dire consequences.

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