Obama, Cameron hold joint press conference (PHOTOS)
U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and British Prime Minister David Cameron participate in an official arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House March 14, 2012 in Washington, DC. Prime Minister Cameron is on a three-day visit to the U.S. and he is expected to have talks with Obama on the situations in Afghanistan, Syria and Iran.
President Barack Obama and visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron held a joint press conference this morning in DC.
During the official welcoming ceremony, held before a long day of talks, the two leaders talked of the strong alliance between their countries, with Obama calling it "the strongest that it's ever been."
"We bleed together, we build together, in good times and in bad," Obama said, according to The New York Times. Cameron stressed the "spirit of innovation, creativity and risk taking" that both countries shared.
Obama joked about the British burning the White House in 1814, "They really made an impression. They lit up the place. But we moved on," according to Politico.
More on GlobalPost: Cameron and Obama cement their 'special relationship' with basketball
According to the BBC, talks will focus on Afghanistan, Syria and Iran, with the leaders especially discussing the timeline for handing over the lead combat role in Afghanistan to the locals by mid-2013.
British and American combat forces are expected to withdraw completely from Afghanistan by 2014. Though Cameron acknowledged that Afghanistan will be far from a "perfect democracy" by then, he envisioned "leaving Afghanistan looking after its own security, not being a haven for terror, without the involvement of foreign troops."
Obama said, "At the upcoming NATO summit in my hometown of Chicago, we'll determine the next phase of transition. This includes shifting to a support role next year in 2013 in advance of Afghans taking full responsibility for security in 2014. We're going to complete this mission and we're going to do it responsibly," according to the Associated Press.
More on GlobalPost: Video captures surrender after Afghan massacre
On Syria, Cameron and Obama agreed "to keep increasing pressure" on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to NPR, though both stressed efforts such as sanctions without mentioning military efforts.
Obama urged Iran's leaders to seize the chance to solve the nuclear issue diplomatically, saying, " they should understand that because the international community has applied so many sanctions, because we have employed so many of the options that are available to us to persuade Iran to take a different course, that the window for solving this issue diplomatically is shrinking," according to The Wall Street Journal.
More on GlobalPost: Promises, pitfalls await investors in Burma’s frontier economy
Every day, reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you. We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
Make a gift today, and you’ll help us unlock a matching gift of $67,000!