When the Brits Don't Trust Us . . .

The British have been our steadfast allies for generations. They've gone along with even the less popular parts of the "War on Terra" (see, e.g., Iraq) and are often the only major Western power to help us out. So if we get to the point where even the Brits have had enough, that would really mean something.

We've gotten there. Via Glenn Greenwald, the British government has publicly concluded that it can no longer trust us in such matters:

In a damning criticism of US integrity, the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said ministers should no longer take at face value statements from senior politicians, including George Bush, that America does not resort to torture in the light of the CIA admitting it used 'waterboarding'. The interrogation technique was unreservedly condemned by Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who said it amounted to torture.

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Today's committee report said there were 'serious implications' of the striking inconsistencies between British ministers continuing to believe the Bush administration when it denies using torture. 'The UK can no longer rely on US assurances that it does not use torture, and we recommend that the government does not rely on such assurances in the future,' said the committee. 'We also recommend that the government should immediately carry out an exhaustive analysis of current US interrogation techniques on the basis of such information as is publicly available or which can be supplied by the US.'

I know its one of the right wing articles of faith that we don't care what the rest of the world thinks about us. American exceptionalism and all that. But it's one thing to not particularly care what the masses might think about you. When your friends start to turn their back on you, however, it should be a clear sign that something is not quite right.

I'd say its time for an international intervention, but we'd probably just lock everybody up at Gitmo and waterboard them.