The headlines are filled with news of British PM Gordon Brown's first meeting with President Bush since taking office and whether Brown will bring a cooling of Anglo-American relations or even a revisiting of the so-called 'special relationship'. Perhaps people think it goes without saying. But it simply cannot go without saying that this tussle is virtually all about Iraq. And to the extent it's not about Iraq it's about stuff like Gitmo and Global Warming. But on the key issue of Iraq, Brown's position is the position of a huge majority of Americans. Indeed, Brown's to-this-point deliberate ambiguity on Iraq leaves open the possibility that he is more hawkish than most Americans, though I doubt that is so.

In any case, the essential point is clear: this rift is much more aptly described as a rift with President Bush and it is more or less the same rift that most Americans have with President Bush.

In fact, since Brown appears to be one of the few non-Koolaid drinkers President Bush is now speaking to about Iraq perhaps, speaking with all humility on behalf of the great majority of Americans who think the president's policies on Iraq are nuts, he can put in a word for us too?