BRITAIN CHILLS TOWARD OBAMA – AT 10:54 P.M. ET:  Barack Obama may feel relieved that the prime minister of Israel will soon be leaving, but Mr. Obama faces another difficult meeting with an ally this week – our number one ally, Great Britain.

In his first year in office, Mr. Obama seemed to go out of his way to signal that our relationship with Britain wasn't very special at all, at least to him.   I have no doubt that he sees Britain as just another colonial power, and he probably thinks of Churchill as a guy who wanted to keep the Empire.  All this Battle of Britain stuff is irrelevant.

Now Britain is openly skeptical of Obama and his management of American foreign policy.  That skepticism is coming to a head in disagreement over the Libyan operation, as London's Telegraph reports:

Military and diplomatic sources in both Britain and the US are privately critical over the other side’s role in the action which has hit a damaging “stalemate” and left Colonel Muammar Gadaffi clinging to power.

Britain wants the US to take more of a defined role in the campaign, with UK military chiefs protesting that the effectiveness of bombing raids is being lessened by the absence of American leadership.

US diplomatic sources, meanwhile, have criticised Britain as a “skittish” and unpredictable ally which frequently issues a “red card” -- effectively vetoing a target, causing confusion and greatly hampering proper planning.

Mr Obama emphasised the differences between the two allies yesterday, describing the action against Libya as “limited” in a letter to US lawmakers.

Mr Cameron is expected to pass on the frustration over the lack of leadership from the US when he holds talks with Mr Obama at 10 Downing Street on Wednesday, although Downing Street sources last night denied there were tensions.

They always deny there are tensions.  It's part of the diplomatic game.  But there are tensions. 

Both London and Washington are keen to proclaim a new era for the “special relationship” between the two nations on the eve of the trip, which will see the president and his wife, Michelle, spend two nights in Britain, with the programme including a state banquet at Buckingham Palace and a speech by Mr Obama to both houses of parliament.

Mr. Obama is keen to win next year's election, and part of that is to show that he is truly an American president, rather than a "citizen of the world."  Restoring the image of a relationship with Britain is a good thing for him to do.  I wonder what he'll really be thinking.

May 21, 2011