Combine that frustration and cynicism with Mr Blair's determination to fight, as they would see it, an unnecessary war on false pretences and it is no wonder that the prime minister's standing with female voters has fallen.

ECONOMIST: Tony Blair is right to be worried about his unpopularity

Many, including myself, warned even before the war began that it was unnecessary, that it would take our energy and attention away from the larger war against terrorism, and that invading and occupying Iraq would leave us strategically vulnerable in the most violent and turbulent corner of the world.

NPR: State of the Union: Democratic Response Text

Had it been implemented, the present war might have proved unnecessary.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: I.S.O. a scapegoat

Next, presenting himself as a war leader gives him extra arguments against two powerful criticisms: that his economic management has been poor and that the war on Iraq was unnecessary.

ECONOMIST: George Bush

It does, I think, create an unnecessary and undue burden on those commanders and deprives them of the flexibility they need to wage this war as successfully as they can.

NPR: GOP Eyes the Democrats' New Plan on Iraq