David Cameron, only weeks after assuming the office of prime minister, is visiting to Afghanistan to express support for the fight against the Taliban. The New York Times reports:
At a news conference alongside President Hamid Karzai, Mr. Cameron declared: “No one wants British troops to stay in Afghanistan for a day longer than is necessary.” But, he said, “What we want — and is our national security interest — is to hand over to an Afghanistan that is able to take control of its own security.” The visit was Mr. Cameron’s first to Afghanistan as head of a coalition of his Conservative Party and the smaller Liberal Democrats. He said he had described this year “in terms of the NATO mission in Afghanistan, as the vital year.” “This is the year when we have to make progress — progress for the sake of the Afghan people, but progress also on behalf of people back at home who want this to work,” he said. His remarks echoed comments in London on Wednesday by Mr. Gates, who said that the United States and its allies were under pressure to show progress in the war by the end of the year, and that American voters would not accept an open-ended “stalemate.”
Does this mean the return, in at least a small way, of the special relationship? That's probably too optimistic, but it's certainly a nice thought.