London, May 17–Senator John Kerry returned to London this morning after two days at Chequers, the Prime Minister’s private retreat. Standing with Mr. Blair outside 10 Downing Street, Senator Kerry said, “We have agreed on a range of very promising options for managing the crisis in Iraq.”

The police closed Whitehall, a broad street near the Prime Minister’s residence, to accommodate a crowd that was estimated at over 20,000. There were some hecklers, but Senator Kerry drew a roar of support when he waved through the iron gates.

The two leaders refused to elaborate on their plans, saying that the situation in Iraq was changing quickly. However, Senator Kerry’s entourage included Peter W. Galbraith, a former US Ambassador to Croatia who advocates dividing Iraq into three semi-autonomous constituent republics. Mr. Galbraith refused to comment.

Mr. Blair, pressed to say whether he was endorsing the Democratic nominee, replied repeatedly that British governments “never pick sides” in U.S. Presidential campaigns. “The choice belongs to the American people, and our government will work effectively with either party,” he said. “This was simply an opportunity for us to exchange ideas with another American political leader.”

Nevertheless, British commentators unanimously detect political advantage for Mr. Blair. Polls last week showed only 19 percent of respondents were satisfied with the Labour government, and Mr. Blair’s personal loyalty to U.S. President George W. Bush has been a major liability. While most foreign leaders would hesitate to cross the President, Mr. Blair has kept 12,000 troops in Iraq and is immune to punishment. Any criticism from Washington would be a political gift. The Sun, a conservative tabloid, declared: “Bush’s ‘Poodle’ Bites.”

For his part, Senator Kerry gains stature and offers a sense that the Iraq crisis may be solvable. Bush Administration officials scrambled to counter any advantage. Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said, “Senator Kerry is desperate to show that he is qualified to lead America. After more than 20 years of voting against a strong defense, he has to cross the ocean in search of supporters.” On the Senate floor, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) challenged Senator Kerry to reveal his “secret plan” for Iraq. However, another Republican Senator who asked not to be named said, “This hurts, because Blair is not some foreigner meddling in American politics. He used to be George Bush’s best friend.”

I?m still at Wye River, at the end of two long but productive and interesting days discussing education and democracy. It?s a beautiful place. There must be four or five square miles of property, flat farmland surrounded by placid estuaries that drift imperceptibly toward the Chesapeake and buzz with insect life. Long paved avenues, lined by evenly spaced maples, connect the various buildings; in between are pastures with grazing cows, patches of pine woods, and open meadowland. During the break I saw deer, vultures, and schools of small fish. It?s very quiet here, and there?s been little time for following the news. It?s easy to make the evil world seem far away. Yet on the Web I see pictures of a smiling, wholesome, young American woman who has been credibly charged with torture in Iraq, and I reflect that the land that looks so lush and peaceful around me must have been worked by generations of slaves, brutalized by whips, guns, and rape, and I keep thinking that we need to face our own national character squarely. We do have a far better political system and a healthier culture than many countries?, but we also have a terrible tendency to sentimentalize ourselves. We like to think we?re all Jessica Lynch, the spunky survivor. But some of the alleged American torturers look just like her.

Some Americans think that our national record is basically one of sacrifice and service. We lost thousands of young men in two World Wars, saving our allies from tyranny. Thanks to us, there is democracy and prosperity in Japan and Europe (both east and west of the old Iron Curtain). We fought in Korea and Vietnam with good intentions, to say the least. Unfortunately, foreigners are often ungrateful for our aid and advice?perhaps jealous or resentful, or perhaps just so different from us that they can?t appreciate our help. This is what one group of Americans thinks, while another argues that our record is basically blood-soaked and imperialistic. We vaporized Nagasaki to intimidate the Soviets and to gain control over Asia; we created tyrannies in Iran, Guatemala, Indonesia, Zaire, Chile, and elsewhere; and we support current dictators for financial gain. Which version of recent history you adopt will deeply shape your view of any contemporary American intervention overseas. My own position would fall somewhere between these two caricatures, but right now I?m very conscious of our faults. Americans were victims on 9/11, but that doesn?t mean that we are a nation of innocents. Democracy and service may be American traditions, but so is brutality. If we’re going to try to improve other people’s countries, we’d better remember our own capacity for evil.