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Our nobel president and his... great sense of diplomacy. From ThinkProgress

“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.”

When Britain’s future in Iraq was up for debate, however, the White House showered praise on the new Prime Minister. “I found a person who shares [my] vision and who understands the call,” President Bush said of Gordon Brown in July. “You’ve proved your worthiness as a leader, and I thank you for that.”