The UK turns against the US? sad day

[Caldric]

The UK is torn I think they are so much more like the United States then the EU. We feel the same way. To see the Union Jack fade away into the stars of the EU would be a sad day for mankind. They are the steady hand of a super power USA rather they realize it or not. They have great influence in the United States. Perhaps the only outside influence at all their acceptance is perhaps the only power that we care about. However, Japan ironically is also a major influence in the USA believe it or not. 81% of the UK approved of the United States before 2006 now it’s only a 51% approval. According to the polls of course which you can take or not its up to the person.

The United Kingdom in my opinion is our wayward parent the founder and creation of our Nation. We follow British common law not the Roman Laws of many nations. Although we have changed it the roots reside in the UK the motherland? I flinch when they protest their hatred of us.

I wonder if I am alone in feeling the UK is our close and favored ally? Am I the only one who thinks that? The German's cuss us the French cuss us the Italians, the Russians, the Scandinavians etc. we could careless. But when the UK hates us we perhaps have went too far? It cuts to the bone when they turn against us I think. Its like having a parent look down on you with scorn.

Silly? Perhaps but they are the closest people on the planet to our ideology since it was bred and tried there. I hate to see them hating us I know that and I hate to see them turn their back on us.

I remember the EU constitution being voted on and I actually worried over that the UK would pass the constitution and lower the Union Jack once and for all.

Perhaps it is time to rethink our position in the world when such iron sided allies look down on us?

[sabadgeman]

The British are a strange nation. They put things on pedestal's just to break them down again. Politicians, pop idols sportsmen businessmen so the list goes on. So it is often the same with our relationship with the USA.

Personally I think that polls are a bit of farce you can slant a question any way you want to get the answer you want. After all was it not Benjamin Disraeli who is reputed to have said lies, bloody lies and statistics?

The problem the way I see it is not so much a hatred of the US rather that it is perceived here that the US dragged the Brits into a bit of a quagmire in Iraq.

There is "face" at stake in many Brits view, for whilst there is often on the surface a “hatred” of the days of the “Empire” when you scratch a bit there is often pride. Deep seated pride and the disaffected youth of this country are starting to tap into this as something that sets them apart from the Muslim oriented youth.

My own personal belief is that Blair was trying to do a Thatcher i.e. emulate the Falklands success in Iraq and I firmly believe that George Bush would not have gone into Iraq without our support both militarily and politically. Don’t get me wrong guys your military might is faaar faaar greater than ours but we still do count.

Blair and his spinning monkey Alistair Campbell and Rupert Murdoch's media empire slanted intelligence openly bullied coerced and forced the military and intelligence communities into agreeing that Saddam’s regime had WMD’s.

Yes they connived with the Americans on this but again without Tony’s support George Bush would have had a harder time convincing his people.

We do like you say have a special relationship and I do not think it will be broken by this treaty which is not a new constitution as such. All I can hope for is that people in the UK vote for the government they deserve but I doubt it.

[Angelus]

Hi guys, I am a brit, I don't think the report is fully true, there will always be a US/UK bond.

The thing that isn't sitting well at present is the political links. Blair has gone, the 'poodle' days are gone. Britain and Prime Minister Brown are not going to be (politically) seen to be close to Bush in his remaining year/months in office. Many Republicans are now distancing themselves from a lost cause.

What Brown won't do is pull out of Iraq, but like many opinion polls in the US and UK, the public wants the troops out, now. Too many body bags. Bush is being politically isolated. Brown who has to go to the polls in one/two years, is not going to have that Blair/Bush relationship. There may be a political cooling, but the long term bond remains, we will still allies, whatever.

I personally think the Iraq initiative was right, but was handled badly after we won the war, we lost the peace. From my reading of the US position, the Democrats have the majority, not just in the Senate/House, but in the streets.

What is sad about the whole thing is that young men and women, our soldiers, are paying for the political mistakes. The public see this, and want to stop it.

Many recognise that we cannot suddenly pull out, one we still have a job to do, and secondly, if we pull out enmass, we set our troops up in a shooting gallery. It has to be a planned withdrawal, and, diplomatically seen that the terrorists didn't push us out.

Brown/Britain reads those messages and is cautious of associating with the hawks.

[Snowden]

Well, at least it seems we won't have to worry about Scotland hating us, if you two are an indication! I simply can't imagine a future without the UK as a close ally. Hopefully, you all will be able to control the enemy in your midst, and hopefully we will do the same here. Sometimes our government seems to be fighting us as well as the enemy.

Iraq is taking a long time to settle. It seems somewhat better now, according to what we hear from the people who are there and not in the "news" media. I hope so, and that it will be wrapped up and the nation delivered to its proper leaders. We need allies there; the location is vital with the world going in the direction it's now heading in.

And we need to be allies with one another -- the UK and the US.

(Tommy, it's good to have you back with us -- you've been far too busy this summer.)

[Chrisj]

All relationships go through their ups and downs and as Sabadgeman says you can slant a question to get the answer you want. I think the silent majority do not hate America it is the left who seem to dominate most of the media output who despise America the Imperialist. There is a concious move amongst Europhiles to distance us from any relationships outside the EU, we have practically turned our back on trade partners in the old Commonwealth and constantly been told we need closer trade ties with Europe even though trade with them is almost drowning us in a sea of regulation.

Brown is also keen to be seen as his own man and sufficiently different politically to Blair to stand a chance in any future General Election. If this means pandering to the leftist media then he will do it. He also has to consider what a close relationship with Bush could mean in the future when it looks like a Democrat could be President.

[Scrappy]

Ahhh... the good ole days when men could be men and duke it out and hug after a good fight.... 1776. That's the reason we are tied together, I know a lady who still to this day calls the US (in third party reference) "the colonies". I'm sorry that the UK is gun shy about what the world thinks about it, I'm sorry people in the US feel the same way. One thing I hope will never happen is that the UK never lose it's identity. "Long live the Queen" seemed very queer to me for most of these years, yet since 9-11 it's become a phrase that I've quit scratching my head about. I'm glad yall invaded America with US I don't think we'll ever forget our roots.

[Chrisj]

Originally Posted by Scrappy

One thing I hope will never happen is that the UK never lose it's identity. "Long live the Queen" seemed very queer to me for most of these years, yet since 9-11 it's become a phrase that I've quit scratching my head about.

Sadly that seems to be what is happening, the planks of British society are slowly being pulled from under our feet. Educational policy now seems to be working towards a complete denial of our history, Churchill, Nelson, Wellington are all in danger of being written out altogether. The Church of England has dropped the majority of its tenets in an effort to be more inclusive, we can't possibly offend other religions can we. Schools have to cater to an increasingly diverse mix of ethnic backgrounds where English is a second language, local government is expected to produce translations of documents for an increasing range of languages. Some large supermarket chains now have store announcements in Urdu etc. with an English translation added afterwards.

Traditional English pastimes and rural communities find themselves unable to obtain government or lottery funding because they do not benefit a sufficiently diverse ethnic group. So if you're unlucky enough to live in one of the predominantly white rural areas forget it because your culture is not sufficiently important to preserve.