Obama stabs UK in back over Falklands
BartSimpson @ Thu Apr 19, 2012 3:17 pm
Barack Obama's knife in the back over the Falklands should be a wake-up call for David Cameron
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nileg ... d-cameron/
$1:
As I noted in a piece earlier this week, Barack Obama has no interest in standing with Britain over the Falklands, declaring in a press conference in Colombia at the Summit of the Americas:
The Obama presidency has made it clear that it views Britain and Argentina as equal allies. This, despite the fact that Great Britain is a world power that has fought alongside the Americans in almost every major US-involved war over the past 70 years (with the notable exception of Vietnam). In contrast, Argentina is an insignificant international actor, currently led by a kleptocrat anti-Western government, which has barely lifted a finger to help the Americans in the past.
Barack Obama's latest knife in the back for Britain – and there have been many - should be a wake-up call for David Cameron, whose recent trip to Washington was an undignified exercise in hero-worship toward a Left-wing president who doesn't even like the British. The prime minister should understand that Barack Obama is no friend of Britain and never will be. And nor is his Secretary of State, who has actively backed Argentina's calls for UN-brokered negotiations between London and Buenos Aires over the sovereignty of the islands.
The Obama presidency has beeen the most anti-British US administration of modern times. No amount of photo-ops at college basketball games, glamorous flights on Air Force One, or lavish state dinners stuffed full of Democrat fundraisers and donors will change that. To Mr Obama, the Prime Minister is little more than a convenient campaign prop: a compliant figure to roll out to the US media to give the impression he actually has friends on the world stage. It is time for David Cameron's reckless adulation of the Obama White House to come to an end.
President Obama doesn't believe in the Special Relationship, and this was clearly on display in Colombia. Britain's true friends in America are on the Right, not the Left. It is American conservatives who are the natural allies of Britain, not the big-government liberals currently occupying the White House, and doing their best to import the European social model and EU-style bureacracy and regulations into America. The Obama administration has been relentlessly Eurofederalist, backing every step in further European integration, frequently at Britain's expense. They are not the allies of national sovereignty or British leadership in Europe.
With his embarrassing fawning over Barack Obama, Mr Cameron has been burning bridges with the Right in America, while gaining nothing for his country. With the latest Gallup polls showing Obama trailing in the presidential race, it would be prudent for Downing Street to rethink its entire approach towards the current White House, and start reaching out to US conservatives, who respect Britain and actually believe in the Special Relationship.
Barack Obama Barack Obama:
And in terms of the Maldives [sic] or the Falklands, whatever your preferred term, our position on this is that we are going to remain neutral. We have good relations with both Argentina and Great Britain, and we are looking forward to them being able to continue to dialogue on this issue. But this is not something that we typically intervene in.
The Obama presidency has made it clear that it views Britain and Argentina as equal allies. This, despite the fact that Great Britain is a world power that has fought alongside the Americans in almost every major US-involved war over the past 70 years (with the notable exception of Vietnam). In contrast, Argentina is an insignificant international actor, currently led by a kleptocrat anti-Western government, which has barely lifted a finger to help the Americans in the past.
Barack Obama's latest knife in the back for Britain – and there have been many - should be a wake-up call for David Cameron, whose recent trip to Washington was an undignified exercise in hero-worship toward a Left-wing president who doesn't even like the British. The prime minister should understand that Barack Obama is no friend of Britain and never will be. And nor is his Secretary of State, who has actively backed Argentina's calls for UN-brokered negotiations between London and Buenos Aires over the sovereignty of the islands.
The Obama presidency has beeen the most anti-British US administration of modern times. No amount of photo-ops at college basketball games, glamorous flights on Air Force One, or lavish state dinners stuffed full of Democrat fundraisers and donors will change that. To Mr Obama, the Prime Minister is little more than a convenient campaign prop: a compliant figure to roll out to the US media to give the impression he actually has friends on the world stage. It is time for David Cameron's reckless adulation of the Obama White House to come to an end.
President Obama doesn't believe in the Special Relationship, and this was clearly on display in Colombia. Britain's true friends in America are on the Right, not the Left. It is American conservatives who are the natural allies of Britain, not the big-government liberals currently occupying the White House, and doing their best to import the European social model and EU-style bureacracy and regulations into America. The Obama administration has been relentlessly Eurofederalist, backing every step in further European integration, frequently at Britain's expense. They are not the allies of national sovereignty or British leadership in Europe.
With his embarrassing fawning over Barack Obama, Mr Cameron has been burning bridges with the Right in America, while gaining nothing for his country. With the latest Gallup polls showing Obama trailing in the presidential race, it would be prudent for Downing Street to rethink its entire approach towards the current White House, and start reaching out to US conservatives, who respect Britain and actually believe in the Special Relationship.
sandorski @ Thu Apr 19, 2012 6:26 pm
Sure, why wouldn't they be able to?
DanSC @ Thu Apr 19, 2012 7:42 pm
We were neutral last time. This is between the UK and Argentina. Unlike the UK, we're neighbors with Latin America. It's best not to piss them off over empty threats from Argentina.
SprCForr @ Thu Apr 19, 2012 8:29 pm
It could have been easily dealt with by merely supporting the Islanders right to chose.
ShepherdsDog @ Thu Apr 19, 2012 8:46 pm
the people living there have expressed their choice. They want to remain British. Case closed. This BS goes all the way back to some papal edict, and in case the world hasn't noticed, Britain hasn't recognized the authority of the Bishop of Rome for almost 500 years. The papal declaration came after that break.
Zipperfish @ Fri Apr 20, 2012 2:12 am
$1:
The Obama presidency has beeen the most anti-British US administration of modern times.
The important thing to remember here is that when op-ed writers refer to "modern times" they mean the last four months.
martin14 @ Fri Apr 20, 2012 6:59 am
DanSC DanSC:
We were neutral last time.
ummm, not quite.
Lots of stories running around about SC resolutions being played with,
resupply and intelligence going from the US to Britain.
Overtly neutral, covertly not.
DanSC @ Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:01 am
martin14 martin14:
Overtly neutral, covertly not.
You just described America's involvement in every conflict in the world that it was neutral in since 1945.
BartSimpson @ Fri Apr 20, 2012 10:20 am
DanSC DanSC:
We were neutral last time. This is between the UK and Argentina. Unlike the UK, we're neighbors with Latin America. It's best not to piss them off over empty threats from Argentina.
Um, Argentina is on record with the fact that their threats are not to be ignored.
DanSC @ Fri Apr 20, 2012 10:25 am
So is China. They haven't invaded Taiwan yet.
BartSimpson @ Fri Apr 20, 2012 10:28 am
DanSC DanSC:
So is China. They haven't invaded Taiwan yet.
Agreed. But Argentina has invaded the Falklands before.
gonavy47 @ Fri Apr 20, 2012 11:16 am
BartSimpson BartSimpson:
DanSC DanSC:
So is China. They haven't invaded Taiwan yet.
Agreed. But Argentina has invaded the Falklands before.
And got their asses kicked.
bootlegga @ Fri Apr 20, 2012 12:32 pm
DanSC DanSC:
We were neutral last time. This is between the UK and Argentina. Unlike the UK, we're neighbors with Latin America. It's best not to piss them off over empty threats from Argentina.
Yep, and unlike last time, the Argies have next to no capability to invade. Even if they did get force together, they'd lose half of it before it hit the beaches.
PluggyRug @ Fri Apr 20, 2012 1:25 pm
bootlegga bootlegga:
DanSC DanSC:
We were neutral last time. This is between the UK and Argentina. Unlike the UK, we're neighbors with Latin America. It's best not to piss them off over empty threats from Argentina.
Yep, and unlike last time, the Argies have next to no capability to invade. Even if they did get force together, they'd lose half of it before it hit the beaches.
Yup, without the General Belgrano they're lost.
Gunnair @ Fri Apr 20, 2012 2:03 pm
BartSimpson BartSimpson:
DanSC DanSC:
So is China. They haven't invaded Taiwan yet.
Agreed. But Argentina has invaded the Falklands before.
North Korea has no issue sinking South Korean warships either.
Pretty quiet around them save giving them food and a strong finger waving......