Return of the Atlanticists

Campus Report ^ | August 13, 2008 | Jeff Waldmann

[bs9021]

Return of the Atlanticists

by: Jeff Waldmann, August 13, 2008

With the British Conservative Party poised for a thunderous victory in the next general election, the future appears bright for increased cooperation between the United States and Great Britain in the War on Terror, according to a July 29 Heritage Foundation panel.

“Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s personal ratings are among the worst for a British leader in modern history, with 70% of Britons dissatisfied and just 17% approving,” said Niles Gardner, Director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation.

So what can the United States expect from a Conservative British government? According to the expert panelists, a much more sensible defense strategy.

An issue that has been a pervasive one in the U.S. news cycle as November’s general election approaches has been time-tables for troop withdrawal in Iraq. Dr. Liam Fox, United Kingdom Shadow Secretary of State for Defense, left no doubts about the position of the David Cameron-led Conservative party.

“We need to be more realistic about time scales. We don’t believe there should be a time-table set for pulling our troops out of Iraq,” said Dr. Fox, adding that “people have expected too much, too quickly.”

Dr. Fox also spoke to some of the problems looming on the horizon, which a Conservative administration, as well as the next U.S. president, will have to contend with.

“Russia is an emerging threat. They just began a $189 billion expansion of defense,” said Dr. Fox.

He added commentary on the current situation with Iran, saying “Iran will continue to be a major issue,” and very quickly dispelled the notion that living with a nuclear Iran is a viable option.....

[BfloGuy]

Without a leader such as Thatcher, I don't trust the British Tories one bit.

European conservatives are not the same as American (or Australian and Canadian for that matter) conservatives. I hope for the best, but I'm not, shall we say, sanguine.

All that said, I hope the Tories win.