The White House says David Cameron has been "as close a
partner" as Barack Obama has had, after the president appeared to
criticise the PM.
Mr Cameron had become "distracted" after the 2011
intervention in Libya, Mr Obama told the Atlantic magazine. He also described
Libya as "a mess.
White House spokesman said the
US "deeply" valued the UK's contributions.
Downing Street said Britain was still "working
hard" in Libya.
'More faith'
The article, written by Jeffrey Goldberg, is billed as the
US president talking through "his hardest decisions about America's role
in the world.
In it, Mr Obama reflects on "what went wrong"
after the overthrowing of the Gaddafi regime, led by the UK and France.
"There's room for criticism, because I had more faith
in the Europeans, given Libya's proximity, being invested in the
follow-up," he said.
Mr Obama said the UK prime minister soon became
"distracted by a range of other things".
The US president said of the North African country: "We
averted large-scale civilian casualties, we prevented what almost surely would
have been a prolonged and bloody civil conflict. And despite all that, Libya is
a mess."
He also spoke of "free riders", saying European
and Gulf countries were calling for action against Gaddafi - but, he said, the
"habit" for several decades had been "people pushing us to act
but then showing an unwillingness to put any skin in the game.
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy also came in for
criticism, with Mr Obama saying he "wanted to trumpet the flights he was
taking in the air campaign, despite the fact that we had wiped out all the air
defenses and essentially set up the entire infrastructure" for the
intervention.
It's like we've seen a curtain drawn back on the unspun
thoughts of President Obama, complete with frustration as well, and what we've
seen... is the White House trying to close the curtain as quickly as it
can," he added.
In its statement, the White House said: "Prime Minister
Cameron has been as close a partner as the president has had, and we deeply
value the UK's contributions on our shared national security and foreign policy
objectives which reflect our special and essential relationship.
"With respect to Libya, the president has long said
that all of us - including the United States - could have done more in the
aftermath of the Libyan intervention.
It also said the UK had "stepped up on a range of
issues", including a pledge to spend 2% of national income on defense.
According to the Atlantic's article, this pledge came after
Mr Obama told Mr Cameron that Britain must pay its "fair share" if it
wanted to continue to claim a "special relationship" with the US.
A Downing Street statement highlighted the White House's
positive comments about the relationship between Mr Cameron and Mr Obama.
It added: "We agree that there are still many difficult
challenges in Libya but, as the PM has said many times before, coming to the
aid of innocent civilians who were being tortured and killed by their leader
was the right thing to do.
It said the UK had "sought to support the people of
Libya" and was still "working hard to support the UN-led process to
establish a stable and inclusive government".
Former Conservative foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind said
criticism could be leveled at the West - including the Americans - for not
doing enough to ensure a more stable future for Libya.
"But I think, to be frank, it's pretty rich coming from
President Obama, because the Americans did far less than either France or the
United Kingdom in helping get rid of that dictatorship," said Sir Malcolm.
Alec Ross, a former senior adviser to to the State
Department, said he believed Mr Obama was "frustrated" by the
"current state of near mayhem in Libya".
"It probably stems from the fact the United States
itself was spread so thin - that we hoped somebody would help fill the breach,
so to speak. But I don't think it's so much anger or frustration as broadly
felt disappointment… we thought the future after Gaddafi could only get better
and so far it hasn't yet.
The 2011 armed rebellion assisted by Western military
intervention led to the end of Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year dictatorship. But it
left a power vacuum and instability, with no authority in full control.
Despite efforts to support Libya's National Transitional
Council, and the first elections in the country for decades, it rapidly
descended into violence, with two rival militia-backed parliaments.
A recent UN report said there were hundreds of different
armed groups and the chaos has allowed so-called Islamic State to gain a
foothold.
Killings and torture were being committed with impunity by
all sides, it said.
In January, Mr Cameron told MPs the Libyan people "were
given the opportunity" to build a stable democracy - and it was a matter
of "huge regret" they had not taken it.
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