Britain A US Trojan Horse: Europe Would Be Better Off Without Britain

Neil Clark: US Trojan horse: NSA scandal shows Europe would be better off without Britain ■ The muted British reaction to what is a truly outrageous scandal, is proof, if indeed any further proof were needed, of what Britain's main role in the EU is: to act as a Trojan horse to defend and further the interests of the government of the United States of America. - Like the curious incident of the dog that didn’t bark in the nighttime in the classic Sherlock Holmes story Silver Blaze, the most revealing thing about the latest NSA spying revelations which made world headlines last week was the non-barking of the UK. While leading politicians of other European countries and officers of the EU itself were keen to express their concern over the latest revelations of US spying on its allies – the President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz said that US secret services were ‘out of control’ – British Prime Minister David Cameron has only said that he thought that the EU statement on the matter was ‘good and sensible’ and that he agreed with it. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Cameron ‘silently acquiesced” to the statement. At a press conference, Cameron refused to comment about the recent NSA revelations. The irony is that the UK political elite today is far more slavishly pro-US than our leaders were in the 1960s. Today [...] however, Britain’s leaders are totally subservient to Washington. In fact loyalty to the American Empire and an unquestioning commitment to Atlanticism has become a necessary condition for anyone wanting to climb to the top of the greasy pole in British politics or gain entry into the UK establishment. Stated support for the US’s closest Middle East ally, Israel, is a big help too. Any politicians who want Britain to be genuinely independent of the US and follow its own foreign policy path, like Tony Benn, who stood for deputy leadership of the Labour Party in the early 1980s, or George Galloway, the leader of Respect, have faced years of smears and attacks- and are routinely portrayed by the UK political elite and media gatekeepers as dangerous ‘extremists’. (Image: Bonhams)

Glenn Greenwald: As Europe erupts over US spying, NSA chief says government must stop media ■ With General Alexander calling for NSA reporting to be halted, US and UK credibility as guardians of press freedom is crushed - The most under-discussed aspect of the NSA story has long been its international scope. That all changed this week as both Germany and France exploded with anger over new revelations about pervasive NSA surveillance on their population and democratically elected leaders. [...] Speaking of an inability to maintain claims with a straight face, how are American and British officials, in light of their conduct in all of this, going to maintain the pretense that they are defenders of press freedoms and are in a position to lecture and condemn others for violations? In what might be the most explicit hostility to such freedoms yet – as well as the most unmistakable evidence of rampant panic – the NSA's director, General Keith Alexander, actually demanded Thursday that the reporting being done by newspapers around the world on this secret surveillance system be halted (Techdirt has the full video here).