UK and US special relationship taken to a new level amid anti-war protests
All eyes remain on London for the second day of the US president's state visit, which will see talks on violence in the Arab world. These talks come amid calls for Obama and British PM, David Cameron, to overcome their addiction to war games.
Obama’s visit comes as NATO escalates its involvement in the war in Libya. France has said it will deploy helicopters, bringing combat operations closer to the ground. The global war machine rumbles on, with the alliance of London and Washington in the engine room – and this new agreement to pool information and resources may only add fuel to the fire.
Warm greetings and a royal banquet on the opulent premises of Buckingham palace – Britain has well and truly rolled out the red carpet for Barack Obama, designed to affirm the so-called "special relationship" between the two nations.
Washington’s preparing to open up its highly secretive national security council to London, as the two countries pledge to deal jointly with perceived security and foreign policy challenges. But at what cost to the rest of the world?
“The UK has a long history of unconditionally supporting the US.This plan will only formalize what’s already there,” says Phil Rees, a journalist and a documentary filmmaker.
Not everyone welcomes President Obama’s presence in the UK. A range of groups are using it as an opportunity to demonstrate against what they see as the Anglo-Saxon war machine. Islamist fringe organizations have long linked aggressive foreign policy, led by the US and the UK while concurrently support by France and other NATO allies, with terrorist attacks.
But they are not the only ones who view things this way. Anjem Choudary, of the moderate group Muslims Against the Crusades, believes that “There is a war taking place, against Muslims and the lesson is, until they leave Muslim lands, to stop supporting the dictators in Muslim countries,stop torturing us, supporting the pirate state of Israel, the quagmire of violence, 7/7, 9/11 etc, will not stop.”
The US and UK have been involved in two major wars in the last ten years.In both Iraq and Afghanistan, America persuaded Britain to come along with them, reinforcing Britain’s reputation as the US’s lapdog.
But this time it’s different – in Libya, it’s Britain taking the lead in NATO, with the US keen to keep its role to a minimum.
A deepening of cooperation between the two is something this group of demonstrators vehemently objects to.
“The majority of voters wanted to draw a line under the Iraq and Afghanistan fiascos.This type of formalization of the defense relationship between the UK and US is the last thing they want, and a total disaster for the rest of the world,” says John Rees from the Stop The War Foundation.
Outside Buckingham Palace, where Obama is staying, protestors are trying to persuade him and British prime minister Cameron to stop waging wars in foreign lands.So far it hasn’t worked – on Tuesday, Obama and Cameron were united in their intention to increase pressure on Colonel Gadaffi in Libya. No differences between US and UK – analyst
The special ties between the US and UK in the realm of national security go a bit against the process of European integration, pointed out Michel Chossudovsky from the Center for Research on Globalization, noting that there are no fundamental differences between the two countries.
“But if we look at British public opinion, we are dealing with something entirely different. Britain has a very strong anti-US sentiment,” Chossudovsky stated. “The public has never supported Britain’s involvement in the war.”
“But one thing is British public opinion, and the other is decisions taken by the British government,” he declared.
