Policy rifts between the US and Britain make for good copy, especially in wartime.
The Washington Post, on its front page this morning, suggests there was a split between London and Washington over the Afghan president Hamid Karzai's offer of reconciliation talks with the Taliban.
All are agreed that the only way to bring a semblance of peace to Afghanistan will require doing deals with the Taliban. The difference is over timing.
According to the Post, the British government wants this done as fast as possible but the Obama administration wants to wait until later, when it has the upper hand militarily.
But the British position is more complicated than the Washington Post suggests.
The Foreign Office is divided. There are some British diplomats – senior ones – who favour moving speedily to engage with the Taliban and not delay until next year, while others are backing the US line. The British military are lining up with their US counterparts, arguing that it would be better to wait until the end of the offensive in Helmand province and the planned one in Kandahar, and then go into negotiations with the Taliban from a position of strength.
