Yeah, right...
"Great Liberator" photo op for home consumption - "baby kissing" in the style of old pols from the dawn of time.
No ulterior political motive, sure - it's as blatant as hell. Blair may not have as much trouble being returned to 10 Downing as GWB will to 1600 Pennsy if the economy doesn't recover (haven't listened to the BBC in a while...), but you can be damn sure they're both gonna milk that Iraqi cow until she's dry.