CHURCHILL?  NOT EXACTLY – AT 9:01 A.M. ET:  Distracted by our own affairs, Americans have given little attention to the change in government in Britain.  Conservative David Cameron is now in charge.  We rooted for him, and may live to regret it.  Cameron is a klutz, as the Financial Times notes:

You might have thought that David Cameron would be steering clear of foreign policy gaffes after his “news-rich” visit to Turkey and India.

But he has just been accused by Labour of making a new blunder by mistakenly claiming that Iran has a nuclear weapon (at least, we are still assuming he’s wrong) during a PM Direct meeting.

The prime minister was asked why he was backing Turkey to join the EU and said it could help solve the world’s problems….”like the Middle East peace process, like the fact that Iran has got a nuclear weapon”.

Chris Bryant, shadow Europe minister, said Mr Cameron was becoming a “foreign policy klutz."

And...

Mr Cameron prompted controversy when he said (while in Turkey) that Gaza was a “prison camp” and said (in India) that Pakistan was exporting terror.

You may also recall that during the televised election debates he suggested that China posed a nuclear threat to the UK.

And let’s not forget his deputy Nick Clegg claiming that the Iraq war was “illegal”, which - whether you agree with him or not - is not the official government position, unsurprisingly.

COMMENT:  Cameron's first days in office have been disappointing.  We thought that a conservative prime minister would bring back the old spirit of Britain.  Instead, we've got a child in need of some serious tutoring.  We may soon be calling him England's Obama.

August 6, 2010