When do "closest allies" become "poor performers"? When they decide to leave:
"The White House no longer views Britain as its most loyal ally in Europe since Gordon Brown took office and is instead increasingly turning towards France and Germany, according to Bush administration sources.
"'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.'" [...]
"'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.'"
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