British PM Backs Bush On Afghanistan, Iran

Gordon Brown Pledges More Troops For Afghanistan, New Sanctions For Iran

(CBS/AP)  President Bush won much-needed support Monday from his British counterpart on the biggest challenges looming over his last seven months as the American leader.

Standing next to Mr. Bush after a two-hour meeting in London, Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave his ally welcome news on the two key theaters of the U.S.-led war on terrorism, and the push to reign in Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Brown said his military chief would announce later in the day "a reconfiguration of our troops" in Afghanistan that would result in "the highest number" of British soldiers there to date.

The British leader said his government would freeze all assets of Iran's largest bank in a further move to discourage the country from developing nuclear weapons, and that Britain would also urge Europe to impose further sanctions.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown's spokesman, Michael Ellam, confirmed Monday that an agreement is in place over the assets of the Bank Melli and that following the talks in London between Brown and President Bush, all EU member states had agreed they should freeze the bank's assets.

Foreign ministers were meeting in Luxembourg on Monday and Iran was high on the agenda. European Union officials could not immediately confirm the plans.

Winning strong European backing for new sanctions against Iran was one of Mr. Bush's key goals for this, his last scheduled trip to Europe as president.

The prime minister said Britain would take any necessary action to impress on Iran that it needs to abandon any ambitions of developing nuclear weapons.

The British leader also said his country had work to do in Iraq, and vowed to "continue the job," but, "not at the cost of more troops to Afghanistan."

Brown's pledge for more troops came in the wake of increasing attacks by Taliban militants in Afghanistan and a mass jailbreak that set free hundreds of Taliban fighters.

It also followed a threat by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to send troops across the border into Pakistan to chase militants who seek refuge in the neighboring country.

Mr. Bush said Monday that the United States can help calm the "testy situation" between Afghanistan and Pakistan, but he refused to endorse Karzai's threat to send troops across the border.

The president called for the leaders of both countries to hold talks and share intelligence as they confront notorious Taliban leaders.

"There's a lot of common ground," Mr. Bush said. "It's in no one's interest that extremists have a safe haven from which operate. Obviously, it's a testy situation there."

Mr. Bush said, though, that he understands Karzai's concerns. "We can help," he said. "We can help calm the situation down."

The news conference by President Bush and Prime Minister Brown - both highly unpopular with their respective constituencies - came after a longer-than-scheduled closed door meeting at which Afghanistan and Iran were expected to be the key issues.

CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante reports that demonstrators clashed with police in London on Sunday night, but Mr. Bush's presence has "largely been greeted by indifference in Europe" as people await his departure from office.

The EU and other nations are seeking new ways of persuading Iran to shut down its uranium enrichment program, which they suspect will be used to make nuclear weapons. Three sets of U.N. sanctions have failed to bring any change and Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful, civilian use only.

Both leaders on Monday vowed to "further isolate" Iran if it rejected the latest package of incentives offered by the U.S. and its allies.

Even before EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana presented Iran with a modified package of incentives Saturday to suspend its uranium enrichment program, a spokesman for Iran's government said his country would reject it.

Iran said it would turn down any offer that Solana presented - on behalf of the U.S., Germany, Britain, France, Russia and China - if it required Iran to stop the sensitive nuclear work.

Brown said Monday it was clear that if Iran continues to ignore the international community's demands to halt enrichment, it would leave "no choice but to intensify sanctions."

Mr. Bush took Iran's leadership to task over its insistence that it needed to move ahead with uranium enrichment to produce enough energy for the country. He reiterated his backing for a Russian proposal that would see uranium enriched outside Iranian territory for use in energy production in Iran.

In an apparent return of favor for the support lent to his administration, Mr. Bush voiced strong support for the British leader's campaign to end the tyrannical rule of Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe.

Mr. Bush backed Brown's call for Mugabe to allow a United Nations envoy and international observers into the African nation to oversee an upcoming runoff vote. Opposition candidates have been jailed and their supporters threatened in the run up to the election, leading aid groups to voice serious concerns over the likelihood of a free and fair election.

Mr. Bush, capping his European trip in London and Belfast, will return home having further smoothed trans-Atlantic ties frayed over the war, but with only seven months left to advance his goals in the Middle East and Afghanistan.

The president and Brown said they also discussed issues ranging from climate change, international food prices, global trade negotiations, and the Mideast peace process and the crisis in Darfur.

Brown did not give any specific details on his government's plans for troop levels in Iraq during the news conference, but Mr. Bush repeatedly praised his leadership in the conflict.

The president dismissed questions about the widely reported gap between the British and American governments' stance on troop levels, saying "there's no surprises" from his most crucial ally in the war.

"I have no problem with how Gordon Brown is dealing with Iraq," Mr. Bush said. Britain has 4,000 troops remaining in Iraq on the outskirts of Basra.

British forces withdrew from their base in Basra's city center last year and began to focus only on training Iraqi security forces. British troops, however, did aid Iraqi and U.S. forces in late March during their crackdown on Shiite militiamen in largely successful sweeps to curb violence in the oil-rich city.

Mr. Bush also met during his short stay in London with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the U.N. envoy to Middle East peace negotiations, and Britain's conservative opposition leader, David Cameron.

The last stop on Mr. Bush's trip is Belfast where he, as well as Brown, will visit with Northern Ireland officials. Hadley said the president will urge Britain to transfer police and justice responsibilities to the Northern Ireland authorities.

The president also is visiting an elementary school for Catholic and Protestant students.

[j-whitman]

tbweb,,, Game, set & match.... Good post

[tbweb]

tbweb,, Bush is out the door though anyway. No one''s likely to do anything more untill the next one comes in. Especially what Bush wants, Pakistan is even more precarious than before. We can just hope & observe if the majority actually have a voice this time.

Posted by j-whitman at 12:38 AM : Jun 17, 2008,,,

Former President Ronald Reagan''s famous debate question applies now!!

GOVERNOR REAGAN: "It might be well if you ask yourself are you better off than you were four years ago? Is it easier for you to go and buy things in the stores than it was four years ago? Is there more or less unemployment in the country than there was four years ago? Is America as respected throughout the world as it was? Do you feel that our security is as safe? That we''re as strong as we were four years ago? And if you answer all of those questions yes, why then I think your choice is very obvious as to who you''ll vote for. If you don''t agree, if you don''t think that this course that we''ve been on for the last four years is what you would like to see us follow for the next four, then I could suggest another choice that you have."

Former President Ronald Reagan, I totally agree with you!! :)

[j-whitman]

tbweb,, Bush is out the door though anyway. No one''s likely to do anything more untill the next one comes in. Especially what Bush wants, Pakistan is even more precarious than before. We can just hope & observe if the majority actually have a voice this time.

[j-whitman]

erasmus81, Gnight

[tbweb]

British PM Backs Bush On Afghanistan, Iran

Political Leaders of Democracies are representatives of the electorate that put them in power, elected Leaders are the rudder of that electorate and the majority steer that rudder in their direction, not the direction of the elected Leader! Elected Leaders who hijack the trust and will of the people and go their own way arrogantly abuse and misuse power no matter how well meaning, because in the end thats not the way Democracies are suppose to work! Elected Leaders are suppose to use their skills and talents to articulate and express the will of the majority. In which case how can going ones own way against the will of the majority not be defined as a dictatorship in a Democracy?

[erasmus81]

"I had the sense to know when to move on, neither of us have regreats nor annimosities towards each other." Posted by j-whitman at 12:11 AM : Jun 17, 2008

That is good. A lot of people end up bitter enemies.
Look at tucker, he is a whacko. He hates his ex-wife. I happen to tell him that I was Irish and few others things and he went nuts on me because his wife was also Irish and had some things in common.

Goodnight j-whitman, gotta go eat before I pass out.:)

[j-whitman]

I had the sense to know when to move on, neither of us have regreats nor annimosities towards each other.

[erasmus81]

"I think I got the worst end of the deal erasmus81" Posted by j-whitman at 11:57 PM : Jun 16, 2008

So YOU say. I would be interested in hearing her side of it. She is a Canadian afterall.


"But I''''m Liberated, Freedom At Last"

Yeah, yeah, I just don''t think you knew what a good thing you had.

[j-whitman]

I think I got the worst end of the deal erasmus81, she kept the house & the wrecked 63 Fury & I got the bills & truck --- But I''m Liberated, Freedom At Last

All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem. - Matin L. King

[erasmus81]

Posted by j-whitman at 11:48 PM : Jun 16, 2008

Hahaha, it really is a good thing you are down there and I am up here. It is also a good thing I haven''t eaten dinner yet. I am just a little bit slower when I am hungry. Otherwise I would chew you up and spit you out j-whitman.

[j-whitman]

erasmus81,,, Good point, but, I still don''t like all the wasted effort & taxpayer dollars changing the name of French Fries to Freedom Fries. Now they are back to French fries again.

[erasmus81]

erasmus81,,, You don''''t have to tell me that, I was married to a Canadian woman Posted by j-whitman at 11:41 PM : Jun 16, 2008

Ahhh well then, you know that we can be vicious when we are crossed. And you must also know then how intelligent we are. hahaha

[j-whitman]

erasmus81,,, You don''t have to tell me that, I was married to a Canadian woman

[j-whitman]

erasmus81,, Do I think I''m funny ?? Nobody''s throwing money at my feet yet.

[erasmus81]

j-whitman

AJMarine won''t hurt you as bad as I will, seeing as he is a fellow American.

[dobbershome]

DarkSkyAbove;

You sure don''t like Obama,do you?

[erasmus81]

"Think about it, "Any nation that doesn''''''''t think like us, is a problem" -- Your nation is half French.
Posted by j-whitman at 11:22 PM : Jun 16, 2008

Okay, that''s it! Now you are insulting the people of my country!! I am going to get my AJMarine to hurt you now!

[erasmus81]

Think about it, we wouldn''''t waste 7 years figuring out their culture & not have to spend money on interpreters,, Invading is a No Brainer. Posted by j-whitman at 11:14 PM : Jun 16, 2008

You do think you are pretty funny don''t you j-whitman?

[j-whitman]

erasmus81,, Are you kidding ?? Your guys still wear red coats -- We could lower the recruiting standards even more & get you with the half blind.

[erasmus81]

Good, Canada needs to be liberated anyway, she knows all I''''m intrested in her trees, diamonds & oil --- It would be a slam dunk, & last days, not weeks & definatly not months. Cheap too Posted by j-whitman at 11:00 PM : Jun 16, 2008

Do you remember what I told you before? You may be surprised at how long it would take you. If you choose to waste your resources, I fail to see why we should supply them. (forgive me AJMarine):)