Brown, Bush, Reaffirm Commitment To Cooperation

Monday, July 30, 2007

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07/30/2007 (KFSN) -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told President Bush Monday he shares the U.S. view that there are "duties to discharge and responsibilities to keep" in Iraq.

"Our aim, like the United States is, step-by-step, to move control to the Iraqi authorities," Brown said, joining Bush at a news conference at the president's Maryland mountaintop ranch.

Brown hinted that a decision about troops levels would be made soon, while assuring that such a determination would be based "on the military advice of our commanders on the ground," thus echoing language often heard from Bush.

Indeed, minutes later, in response to a question, Bush said: "The decisions on the way forward in Iraq must be made with a military recommendation as an integral part of it."

The United Kingdom's commitment to the war is essential to the Bush administration. Britain has 5,500 troops there, with forces moving from a combat role to aiding local Iraqi forces.

Bush didn't directly answer whether he planned to pass on the war to the next president, who will take office in January 2009. But he suggested that was likely. "This is going to take a long time in Iraq, just like the ideological struggle is going to take a long time," he said.

The Camp David meeting was an attempt by Brown and Bush to seek common footing between leaders new to each other, but who jointly oversee one of the world's most important alliances.

In deference to the U.S.-British relationship, Bush gave Brown the full foreign-leader treatment: a coveted overnight stay at the presidential retreat here, three meals of all-American fare and introductory talks spanning a range of weighty matters.

But building personal rapport was the main theme. The men have been together before, but this was their first official sit-down since Brown took office in Britain a month ago. There was some sign they achieved some connection to one another, with Brown thanking Bush for his compassionate words about a family tragedy and the two trading jokes about Brown's reputation as a dour Scotsman.

Still, the men stressed what their nations have in common when they appeared together before reporters -- 25 minutes late, a rarity for the usually punctual president -- to cap the two days of talks -- both one-on-one and with advisers.

"So everyone's wondering whether or not the prime minister and I were able to find common ground, to get along, to have a meaningful discussion," Bush said at the outset. "And the answer is `Absolutely.' "

Bush said they met over dinner Sunday night for more than two hours alone, dismissing aides from both countries to the rustic camp's bowling alley (where the British side apparently prevailed).

"You know, he probably wasn't sure what to expect from me," the president said. "I kinda had a sense of the kind of person I was going to be dealing with. I would describe Gordon Brown as a principled man who really wants to get something done."

On the battle against terror, in particular, the men said there is no daylight between their views.

"We are one in fighting the battle against terrorism," said Brown.

Bush congratulated the prime minister on his response when his country was hit with terror threats and catastrophic flooding immediately after he took office. "You've proved your worthiness as a leader."

"He gets it," the president said of his new partner.

Some of Brown's advisers have caused a stir with comments about Bush's famously close ties with Brown's predecessor, Tony Blair, and the Iraq war -- raising questions about whether British troops were headed for an early withdrawal from Iraq.

Bush's top military commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, said the only British plan he knows of is to gradually hand over certain facilities to Iraqi security forces.

"In Iraq we have duties to discharge and responsibilities to keep in support of the democratically elected government and in support of the explicit will of the international community," Brown said.

If Bush had any dissatisfaction about what he heard from Brown on Iraq, he didn't reveal it.

"There's no doubt in my mind he understands the stake of the struggle," Bush said. "And there's no doubt in my mind that he will keep me abreast of his military commanders' recommendations based upon conditions on the ground."

Notably, though, Brown is covering his bases. After leaving Bush, he planned to meet U.S. congressional leaders on Capitol Hill, where support for Bush on the war is fading.

He also was heading from Washington for New York, where he will hold talks with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and deliver a speech to the United Nations.

Brown arrived Sunday at Camp David, and the two got off to a chatty start. Brown could be overhead remarking on how he was honored to be at Camp David, given its rich history. Part of that history included a stop by Blair in 2001 when Bush barely knew him, either.

The alliance of the United States and Britain has long been shaped by personalities -- Roosevelt and Churchill, Reagan and Thatcher, Bush and Blair.

Bush likes to size up a fellow world leader in person and measure the person's mettle under fire. Yet time is short and his popularity and clout have worn away with the war in Iraq.

"What the president wants to find out is whether the new prime minister is a reliable ally," said Simon Serfaty, a European expert at the Center for Strategic & International Studies. "The word to use is reassurance. This is not about a marriage. It's a date." Copyright 2007 Associated

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