For Bush the year went from bad to worse - by Alex Spillius
If you are the sort of person who likes the good news before the bad, here it is: we didn't all die of bird flu this year. A pandemic was supposed to strike mankind. The H5N1 virus jumped from birds to humans across the world in alarming but small numbers. In January it reached Turkey, which is almost Europe, and probably will be in another 10 years if the EU has its way.
That is about it for good news – particularly for President George W Bush and Tony Blair, the most difficult year of their partnership. Enemies of Washington and London gained in confidence: Iraqi insurgents, the Taliban, Iran's theocratic regime, Hizbollah – all prospered as smoke drifted across the vision of a more democratic Middle East. At the start of the year, Iraq was not a failure, from a Washington perspective. By the end Mr Bush had to admit America was not winning the war in Iraq .
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