Ditch Mitch KY

Bush turning away from Britain, with its significant military force, and embracing France and Germany

Matt Gunterman October 3rd, 2007

Circumstances are so bad for the administration of Pres. George W. Bush these days that the White House is trying to spin into good news the fact that the UK under Prime Minister Gordon Brown is pulling its troop presence out of Iraq by saying, essentially, ‘that’s fine, now we have France and Germany on our side to replace them.’

Yes, indeed. All that moral support that France and Germany can offer us is surely a worthy replacement for the thousands of troops and billions of dollars that the UK invested in Bush’s militaristic whims.

From the British right-wing rag the Daily Telegraph:

Britain ‘no longer closest Bush ally’

By Toby Harnden in Washington

The White House no longer views Britain as its most loyal ally in Europe since Gordon Brown took office and is instead increasingly turning towards France and Germany, according to Bush administration sources.

“There’s concern about Brown,” a senior White House foreign policy official told The Daily Telegraph. “But this is compensated by the fact that Paris and Berlin are much less of a headache. The need to hinge everything on London as the guarantor of European security has gone.”

[...]

The White House official added that Britain would always be “the cornerstone” of US policy towards Europe but there was “a lot of unhappiness” about how British forces had performed in Basra and an acceptance that Mr Brown would pull the remaining 4,500 troops out of Iraq next year.

“Operationally, British forces have performed poorly in Basra,” said the official. “Maybe it’s best that they leave. Now we will have a clear field in southern Iraq.” Another White House official described Mr Brown as “challenging” and far less close to the US than Mr Blair.

[...]

A British diplomatic source said: “In the White House there’s a sense of enormous change from Blair. They used to be on the phone to Blair all the time and that’s no longer the case because Brown clearly wants to be the unBlair.

“At the Pentagon, there’s a feeling that Britain is letting the side down on Iraq. The new best friend is Sarkozy and that means Brown taking a step back doesn’t matter as much. In White House eyes, Sarkozy is taking up the slack from Blair. “When things get tough, however, they’re likely to turn to Britain again.”