LONDON -- The war in Iraq has not set back the cause of using force to overthrow murderous dictators in the Middle East or elsewhere, says Tony Blair, one of the progenitors of the bold concept of humanitarian intervention.

But the British prime minister indicates a deepening awareness that war is an unpredictable, blunt instrument of change. His words suggest that he will not by any means pronounce the meal of intervention a failure. But his appetite has been slaked.

_____More Hoagland_____ • For Tony Blair, No Backing Down (The Washington Post, Mar 2, 2005) • Ignoring the Invisible Hand (The Washington Post, Feb 27, 2005) • The Unheralded Revolution (The Washington Post, Feb 24, 2005) • About Jim Hoagland Add Jim Hoagland to your personal home page. _____Today's Op-Eds_____ • Fixing 'the Essential Newspaper' (Post, March 6, 2005) • Life in the Spin Cycle (Post, March 6, 2005) • Wrong on All Counts (Post, March 6, 2005) • A Democratic Call to Arms (Post, March 6, 2005) • Education Starts In School (Post, March 6, 2005)