Posted on 02/04/2008 5:02:14 PM PST by Aristotelian
LONDON: While Prince Andrew declares himself a fan of the United States - and his cellphone ring tone comes from the American TV drama "24" - the man who is fourth in line to the British throne has some critical words for America's Iraq policy and thinks that Washington should have listened to advice from London.
In a rare Buckingham Palace interview ahead of his departure Tuesday for a 10-day U.S. trip to support British business, the prince described the United States as Britain's No. 1 ally but conceded that relations were in a trough. There are, he added, "occasions when people in the U.K. would wish that those in responsible positions in the U.S. might listen and learn from our experiences."
The prince has a full-time role as a trade envoy for Britain but for 22 years he was in the Royal Navy, serving as a helicopter pilot during the Falklands conflict, and Iraq is a preoccupation.
Because of its imperial history, Britain has experienced much of what the United States is going through, Prince Andrew said.
"If you are looking at colonialism, if you are looking at operations on an international scale, if you are looking at understanding each other's culture, understanding how to operate in a military insurgency campaign - we have been through them all," he said. "We've won some, lost some, drawn some. The fact is there is quite a lot of experience over here which is valid and should be listened to."
Prince Andrew's view that post-invasion chaos in Iraq could have been avoided if President George W. Bush's administration had listened more is widely shared in Britain.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
Al Quaeda and radical Islamists are your problem in Great Britain, notwithstanding 9-11, Afghanistan or Iraq. Those thugs are operating openly in your country, and now clamor for sharia law in Britain and for the suppression of any speech they deem anti-Islam. Don’t become their dhimmis in your own country.
Sorry, I was being ironic. Andrew is saying we ought to have learned from their experience, and I was pointing out that the Brits have been with us all the way, so in fact we have taken advantage of whatever it is that the Brits bring to the table.
In other words, Andrew is full of it.
They had to weed out the Bathist and AQ. dissolving the army was the quickest method
They had to weed out the Bathist and AQ.
Does Andrew know who his Daddy is? From what I hear he is a bastard child from an affair.
Yeah, well. It was our business then, back on September 11. Since it didn’t happen on your soil, doesn’t affect you then, does it? Just like what happened in Czechloslovakia didn’t have any effect on you guys either, did it?
We know how that stuff went back in the Thirties. A sea of umbrellas and so on.
Not our problem. Stick our head in the sand. Give them (facists, communists, muslims) what they want and they will leave us alone. There is nothing worth the horror of war to justify the taking up of arms. All that sort of thing.
In Chamberlain’s defense, as Ann Coulter succinctly put it, at least Chamberlain didn’t have himself as an example of how not to do it.
Funny how you guys forgot July 2005 faster than we have forgotten September 2001. Not to worry, we have plenty of dhimmis over here who are trying to push it down the memory hole.
Of interest to you might be this thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1965377/posts
“There are, he added, “occasions when people in the U.K. would wish that those in responsible positions in the U.S. might listen and learn from our experiences.”
Hmmm. Like helping the Frenchies in WW1 and dragging us in? You know, the war with the Kaiser, the one to end all wars which led to Hitler and WW2, the expansion of Communism into eastern Europe and the problems we are currently experiencing?
We have a lot to thank the Brits for prior to our Revolution - Adam Smith, Magna Charta, etc, etc. After 1783, there is precious little except for the recent episodes in the Persian Gulf which common interest draw us into.
I suggest little Bonnie Prince Charlie spend more time reading history books and less time on the Polo field.
Make that Chauvinist crap - it is the duty of every Englishman to give the French credit for the crap they originate.
AQ? They would have found it far easier to infiltrate the new security forces than the old army.
Baathist? Why is it the end of the world if they were around. They weren’t strong enough to overthrow the coalition forces and they at least had experience of running things.
The Prince is free to speak his mind and everyone is equally free to ignore him.
Andy, foot fetishist Dick Morris is sucking your ex-wife’s toes.
Thought you should know, tumblindice
I’m not interested in the brain-dead opinions of a spoiled, inbred member of the “lucky sperm club”.
“The Prince is free to speak his mind and everyone is equally free to ignore him.”
Now this I can agree with.
While we love pulling your chain, we also very much do appreciate Brit support in Iraq and Afghanistan. When we talk about NATO doing this or that, in the end it usually boils down to the anglosaxons, the Americans, Brits, Aussies, Canadians. The rest can't be bothered for the most part.
Andrew's rather annoying comment is what kicked off this thread, in which he said we should have looked to Britain for her experience, The fact is that we did, and Britain came through, and has been at our side the whole way through.
Brits and Americans have faced lead together through several wars, and we love you guys.
Having said that, teasing Brits is always great fun, not as much fun as Frenchmen, but fun still. So lets get back to it. The proper reply to jingoism is more jingoism.
At least Britney Spears supported her President and her Nation, at least she did before she went nuts. Don’t know about today.
Andrew should have kept his opinions to himself or at least voiced them back in Britain.
As to relevance, he IS a war veteran himself.
Why do Americans think they won the war of 1812?. new Orleans does not a victory make...
NO-ONE won that war.Neither Britain nor America.
America WAS a colonial nation at one point in its history.
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