Bush-Brown is different than Bush-Blair
By William Douglas | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — President Bush and the new British prime minister, Gordon Brown, sought to display unity Monday but some cracks appeared to divide the two in ways that never surfaced when Tony Blair led Great Britain.
Bush and Brown essentially sang from the same page on Iraq, Iran and Darfur. But their smiles and mild joshing after their first meeting at Camp David couldn't hide some differences that could prove to be significant over time.
Brown, for example, initially called Afghanistan "the front line against terrorism," seemingly contradicting Bush's assertion that Iraq is the front line. When Brown was asked during a post-meeting news conference about this view, he tried to move slightly toward Bush, noting that "al Qaida is operating in Iraq. There is no doubt that we've had to take very strong measures against them."
Still, Brown's initial remark seemed intended for consumption back in Great Britain and Europe.
"Most (European) people really believe that Afghanistan is the real test in the war on terror because of the extent to which it was endorsed by the United Nations, by NATO and by the European Union," said Simon Serfaty, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Europe Program. "It's easier to sell Afghanistan in the U.K. instead of Iraq."
Similarly, while maintaining that he shares the U.S. view that there are "duties to discharge and responsibilities to keep" in Iraq, Brown stressed that British troops already have secured three provinces and intend to move to "overwatch" responsibility of a fourth as soon as his commanders there give him the word. That's a much less engaged posture than U.S. forces are taking, and closer to leaving.
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