Britain Joins the Coalition of the Not So Willing Anymore

Posted by GottaLaff at 1:00 PM on October 9, 2007.

This post, written by GottaLaff, originally appeared on Cliff Schector's Brave New Films Blog

The U.S. and Britain are breaking up. No more pub dates, no more shared cream teas, no more romantic excursions to Iraq.

Britain is withdrawing its forces in Iraq, as we know, and Bush is looking more stubborn and unreasonable than ever. His legacy will include increasing disdain by the rest of the world and Brown giving Bush his ring back:

One by one, its members have ceded the bloodstained ground to the battling Iraqis and the unyielding U.S. president. Prime Minister Gordon Brown's decision Monday to halve the vestigial British military force in Basra was inevitable; backing the U.S. in Iraq has become a political albatross for governments all over the world.

And those countries who have hung in with him aren't exactly there because the cause is compelling. The shrinking Coalition of the Unwilling is on its last legs:

Georgia and Poland, which desperately need U.S. goodwill as a bulwark against a resurgent Russia, still maintain a symbolic presence.

Keyword: Symbolic.

What was once our very specialest ally is now our ex-very specialest ally. Yes, they're taking their Failure to Launch DVD, kevlar vests, and backpacks and going home:

But Britain is our special ally, and so its decision to bail out is momentous.

And as usual, the reputation of the United States suffers:

More ominously, it represents a repudiation of the Bush administration's argument that stability in Iraq is of vital importance to the entire Western world.

BushCo's collective lower lip must be quivering as it stares longingly at the sterling-framed map of England on the White House wall, signed by Tony Blair, "We'll always have Baghdad".

The United States should take note and recognize that it is a delusion to believe that any foreign occupier can stop Iraqi factions hellbent on fighting for power. We owe the Iraqis our best efforts at mediation, but to insist on stability as a prerequisite for withdrawal is to commit to indefinite and fruitless military occupation.

I wonder who will Bush will turn to on the rebound...?

Tagged as: bush, iraq war, britain, gordon brown

GottaLaff is a regular blogger for Cliff Schecter's Blog