A British flag is burned in front of the Foreign Ministry in Buenos Aires, Feb. 23, 2010. Latin American and Caribbean states backed Argentina's claim to the Falkland Islands in a growing dispute with the UK over drilling for oil off the islands.
AP Photo
"Another Nail in the Coffin of the Special Relationship"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
March 10, 2010
Author: Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2008–2010
Belfer Center Programs or Projects: International Security
"This is not a battle between the United States of America and terrorism, but between the free and democratic world and terrorism. We therefore here in Britain stand shoulder to shoulder with our American friends in this hour of tragedy, and we, like them, will not rest until this evil is driven from our world."
So said Tony Blair after the attacks on September 11th to affirm Britain's solidarity with the US. Nine days later, in a speech to the US Congress, President Bush further declared "America has no truer friend than the United Kingdom." The 'Special Relationship' a term coined first by Churchill in 1946 to demonstrate the exceptionally close military, diplomatic, cultural and historical relationship between the US and UK, it seemed, was at it's zenith.
The relationship was tested to the extreme a few years later with Tony Blair's unequivocal support for the US-led invasion of Iraq, widely regarded now as one of the worst foreign policy decisions of this generation.
So when Hillary Clinton offers to arbitrate between the UK and Argentina over the sovereignty of the UK's Falkland Islands, many are surprised by the lack of support from such a staunch ally. After all, the matter had been clearly 'resolved' in 1982 at the cost of 255 British lives. Was Secretary Clinton not versed in the annals of the 'Special Relationship?'...
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