Here’s what Anatole Kaletsky, columnist at the London Times, has to say about the task facing Gordon Brown:

The question Mr Brown must now ask himself is whether he can still allow himself to remain publicly allied to a US Administration that is so recklessly belligerent in its diplomatic conduct, so demonstrably incompetent in warfare and so irresponsibly dangerous to the peace of the world.

As the anarchy in Iraq goes from bad to worse and Washington’s only answer is to expand the circle of its aggression, clichés about the special relationship are no longer sufficient. Mr Brown must decide whether to remain a silent but active partner in this madness, whether to retreat quietly like the Italians, Poles and Spaniards or to develop a third and genuinely courageous option. This is to positively forestall further disasters by breaking publicly with the Bush Administration and trying to develop a genuine European alternative to the suicidal American-led policies, not only in Iraq, but also in Israel, Palestine and Iran.

It’s one thing to hear Dominique de Villepin or “Pootie-Poot” talking like this, but when your friends in England have thrown up their hands, it’s doubly bad news. Interestingly, both Brown and the Tory leader David Cameron have moved away from the stance of Tony Blair, with Cameron going so far as to announce that “We should be solid but not slavish in our friendship with America.”

Sometimes the best friends provide not reflexive support but constructive criticism and prudent advice. Hopefully the U.S.-England relationship will move away from the former and toward the latter.