Does Britain Like America?

Don’t give up, Tommy Atkins,” sang Judy Garland, surrounded by stiff-upper-lipped English children, in a tear-jerking number from Babes on Broadway, made when Britain stood alone after the fall of France. This venerable movie happened to be shown on British television during the aftermath of the Libyan raid, while Americans were complaining about the Euro-wimps and Britain was vociferously divided over Mrs. Thatcher’s decision to let the F-1 1 1 s fly.

The contrast was poignant, a reminder both of how times change and of the depth and complexity of the Anglo-American relationship. I remembered how my cousin, an American, crossed the Canadian border and fought all through the war with the British army. I remembered Alice Duer Miller’s White Cliffs, which can still, absurdly, bring tears to my eyes. And I was more distressed than ever by the surge of anti-Americanism that had been revealed, rather than caused, by the raid. Britain’s reaction to the Libyan affair is but the climax of a succession of related incidents.

AL

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Anthony Lejeune

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British Conservative Party

Don’t give up, Tommy Atkins,” sang Judy Garland, surrounded by stiff-upper-lipped English children, in a tear-jerking number from Babes on Broadway, made when Britain stood alone after the fall of France. This venerable movie happened to be shown on British television during the aftermath of the Libyan raid, while Americans were complaining about the Euro-wimps and Britain was vociferously divided over Mrs. Thatcher’s decision to let the F-1 1 1 s fly.

The contrast was poignant, a reminder both of how times change and of the depth and complexity of the Anglo-American relationship. I remembered how my cousin, an American, crossed the Canadian border and fought all through the war with the British army. I remembered Alice Duer Miller’s White Cliffs, which can still, absurdly, bring tears to my eyes. And I was more distressed than ever by the surge of anti-Americanism that had been revealed, rather than caused, by the raid. Britain’s reaction to the Libyan affair is but the climax of a succession of related incidents.