British PM Sides with Obama

This is the headline from the Sunday Independent

Brown plans to withdraw troops as he backs Obama over 'war on terror'

Big as Mailiki's endorsement (subsequently modified) of Obama's 16-month timetable (a/k/a time horizon) is, this is bigger. Bush's favorite ally has turned on him.

Although he is refusing to set a detailed timetable for withdrawal, it is clear Mr Brown is in agreement with the US presidential candidate Barack Obama on the need for military action in Afghanistan to take priority. Both appear to be working to a 16-month timetable. [Emphasis added]

More:

Their approach is a marked departure from the policies of Tony Blair and President George Bush. But it nonetheless carries echoes of the "shoulder-to-shoulder" relationship between Britain and the US – if Mr Obama defeats his Republican rival John McCain in the November election.

Will McLame now say Gordon Brown has never been to Iraq, or that he's just saying this for domestic political reasons? (Well, actually, that last one is partly true. Brown's party is in deep trouble at home over Iraq. Of course, so is the GOP here.)

Will Bush have to waterboard Brown, too?

Update Reading the comments reminds me of a story I should have put in at the beginning: We recently had a woman over for dinner from the Czech Republic (that's Czechoslovakia for the McCain people) who works with the EU gov't in Brussels, so she is tied to the leadership and public opinion. The first thing she said when she walked in was that all of Europe is just waiting for Bush to leave.