Did Bush fire the British Foreign Secretary?

Did Condi’s two buddies fall out? That’s the rumor exercising the British press. The Independent on Sunday reports that Bush phoned Blair in a rage last month after Jack Straw described the idea of using nukes against Iran as “nuts” and that this sealed Straw’s fate. A former advisor to the late Robin Cook fans the flames in the Guardian this (Monday) morning, claiming his old boss was also forced out by the Bushies.

Color me skeptical. Anyone familiar with the instant histories of the Blair years will know that Straw has an amazing ability to always come up smelling of roses. And what better way could there be to endear yourself to Labour backbenchers than by being the Foreign Secretary George Bush had sacked? Indeed, it would be enough to make up for being the Foreign Secretary when British troops invaded Iraq.

Also it is hardly like you had to be in the White House to see that Straw’s gratuitous removal of the military option was unhelpful. Even I could see that.

The leaking, though, does suggest that Straw has no intention of quietly getting on with his new job. One scenario being floated is that if Blair decided to join a strike on Iran without getting parliamentary approval, as Britain’s unwritten constitution allows him to, Straw would resign from his job as Leader of House of Commons. Straw would argue that Iraq, where Blair did allow vote, had created a precedent. It would seem like a very high minded resignation and would probably tip Blair over the edge as well as prefacing Straw's return to high office under Prime Minister Gordon Brown.