BRITISH PRIME minister David Cameron said that he and President Barack Obama “made important progress” in talks at the White House yesterday “on four vital areas: Afghanistan, Syria, Iran and economic growth”.
There were no surprises when the two leaders discussed these topics at a joint press conference in the Rose Garden yesterday.
The official visit by Mr Cameron and his wife Samantha, including a state dinner last night at the White House, will be remembered more for the light-heartedness and hail-fellow-well-met camaraderie between the liberal American and the conservative Briton.
Both agreed that, in Mr Obama’s words, the “great”, “rock-solid” and “indispensable” alliance between the US and Britain “is the strongest that it has ever been”.
There were jokes about basketball, table tennis, cricket and the war of 1812. Mr Obama won most laughs when he noted that “We Americans and Brits speak the same language – most of the time. So let me just say, David, we are chuffed to bits that you are here, and I’m looking forward to a great natter. I’m confident that together we’re going to keep the relationship between our two great nations absolutely top-notch.”
On Afghanistan, both leaders said significant progress had been made and promised to wind up the war “responsibly”. Mr Obama gave the first indication since the massacre of 16 Afghan civilians by an American soldier on Sunday that he would not speed up the US withdrawal: “In terms of pace, I don’t anticipate, at this stage, that we’re going to be making any additional changes to the plan we currently have.”
Mr Obama said public opinion has turned against the war “because we’ve been there for 10 years, and people get weary . . . No one wants war. Anybody who answers a poll question about war saying enthusiastically we want war, probably hasn’t been involved in a war.”
Mr Obama commended “David” for “the leadership role he plays in mobilising international support for the transition in Libya”.
Mr Cameron returned the favour, noting that Muammar Gadafy would not have been overthrown “without the overwhelming support and overwhelming force that the US provided in the early stages of that campaign”.
Mr Cameron is reportedly more eager than Mr Obama to use similar force in Syria, but any difference of opinion was very nuanced. Mr Cameron said evidence must be carefully documented “so that those guilty of crimes can be held to account, no matter how long it takes. Above all, we must do everything we can to achieve a political transition that will stop the killing.”
The British prime minister said he wanted “transition rather than revolution or civil war” in Syria, but that “if Assad continues, then civil war or revolution is the inevitable consequence. So we will work with anyone who is ready to build a stable, inclusive, and democratic Syria”.
Mr Obama tried to explain why Syria was different from Libya. “I was very clear during the Libya situation that this was unique,” he said. “We had a clear international mandate; there was unity around the world on that . . . with respect to Syria, it is an extremely complicated situation.” He acknowledged that “when we see what’s happening on television, our natural instinct is to act” but said it was “very important” for the allies and for the Syrian people “to make sure that we have thought through all of our actions”.
