Like his ally Bush, Blair has seen his popularity tumble over Iraq and now risks backlash at the polls.
Yet most analysts still see Blair leading the Labour Party into an election expected next year -- and winning it.
Analysts said the Butler report would be a relief to Blair despite its criticism of intelligence.
"I would think this is the best that the Prime Minister and the government could have hoped for. It looks to be as if he has been more or less left out of the circle of blame," John Benyon, politics professor at the University of Leicester, told reporters.
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