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DAVOS, Switzerland — British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Friday offered strong support for President Bush’s new plan for Iraq and said he believes the Iraqi prime minister can meet the benchmarks the United States has set.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Blair said of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki: "He’s a man with the intent and we’ve got to support him in having the capacity. That’s what it’s all about.”

Despite the optimism, Blair called Iraq a tremendous challenge. Bush has committed an additional 21,500 American troops to a new security push for Iraq, with most bound for Baghdad. U.S. officials have indicated the operation should start in earnest about Feb. 1.

Rice asks allies to boost Afghan aid, says U.S. strategy has not failed

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked allies Friday to intensify their efforts to keep the Taliban from retaking parts of Afghanistan, and asserted a resurgence in Taliban attacks does not mean the U.S. war strategy has failed.

Rice made her appeal a day after the Bush administration said it would ask Congress for $10.6 billion to help the embattled Afghan government.

The U.S. hopes its hefty increase will serve as an incentive for other countries to boost their contributions. Taliban forces, emboldened and rearmed, launched fierce attacks across the country beginning last spring, leading to Afghanistan’s bloodiest year since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

Crop production for illegal drugs also hit a new high in 2006, and relations worsened between Afghanistan and Pakistan, a key U.S. ally in the fight against global terrorism.

"The violence we are seeing is not evidence that our strategy has failed, nor that the situation will improve in our absence,” Rice said in a written statement to NATO foreign ministers who gathered to plan for an expected Taliban military offensive in the spring. "It is evidence of how much we are needed.”