At long last the British government is beginning to listen to the British people. They've decided to use the relative stability in Basra as an excuse to declare victory in the midst of chaos and withdraw over 20% of their troops. It doesn't say much for the British government's estimate of the potential success of The Surge that they are beginning to bail just as it starts. By using the "peace" in southern Iraq — a peace that's been there all along — as his mission accomplished Tony Blair is essentially saying he doesn't see any better opportunities for glory down the road. And sending his troops home to Britain instead of into Baghdad is just a polite way of saying Blair is no longer among the true believers in the new American empire.

This, I think, is the beginning of the end of any and all foreign support for America's latest adventures in nation building. Before too much longer, dubya will be standing pretty much alone, still staunchly defending the indefensible. Right now he'd be gamely trying to say "Et tu, Tony?" if he knew what it meant.