WHEN YOU FLASH "WEAK," THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS - AT 11:25 P.M. ET: Britain is presumably this country's closest ally, but President Obama hasn't exactly embraced the Brits since taking office.  Some grudge about Kenya, maybe. 

Now the British defense secretary, in an extraordinary statement, is getting a bit of revenge.  Coming from an ally, this is, as the Brits say, a bit of bother:

Bob Ainsworth, the defence secretary, has blamed Barack Obama and the United States for the decline in British public support for the war in Afghanistan.

Mr Ainsworth took the unprecedented step of publicly criticising the US President and his delays in sending more troops to bolster the mission against the Taliban.

A “period of hiatus” in Washington - and a lack of clear direction - had made it harder for ministers to persuade the British public to go on backing the Afghan mission in the face of a rising death toll, he said.

Senior British Government sources have become increasingly frustrated with Mr Obama’s “dithering” on Afghanistan, the Daily Telegraph disclosed earlier this month, with several former British defence chiefs echoing the concerns.

But Mr Ainsworth is the first Government minister to express in public what amounts to personal criticism of the US president’s leadership over the conflict which has so far cost 235 British lives.

COMMENT:  Well, there you have it - open criticism from Britain.  And the pundits thought George Bush was the only one who could alienate allies and enemies at the same time.

In fact, Bush's relationship with many of our allies was better than Obama's,  and his relationship with enemies was appropriate.  At least he didn't bow down.

November 24, 2009