May 2001

Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC.

Letter from London

Janet Bloomfield is the British Coordinator of the Atomic Mirror, which works to reflect and transform our nuclear world through the arts. She was Chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament from 1993-1996 and is currently a member of the Co-ordinating Committee of the Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons. She is a member of the Religious Society of Friends.

April 20, 2001.

Someone once said that the British and the Americans were two nations divided by a common language. It appears that these days our mutual incomprehension is out of control. Do you really understand what is happening with foot and mouth disease? 1. What on earth do you make of "Bridget Jones's Diary " and "The Weakest Link?"

Correct me if I'm wrong but I suspect your bafflement is as nothing compared to the bewilderment of us Brits at the antics of the Bush administration. First we stared open-mouthed at the most absurd election count in history, then we gasped in outrage as the Supreme Court handed the Presidency to the apparent loser, now we grow fearful and angry as Dubya tears up the Kyoto climate treaty, foments a new Cold War with China, and presses ahead with National Missile Defence.

We find it laughable that American tourists in London are cleaning their teeth with bottled water. Do they think that the Bush administration has jurisdiction over our water supply and we have more than our fair share of arsenic too? Well if the secret agreements made between the US and British governments that were put into place in 1947 had included a clause about water supplies I wouldn't be joking about it!

One of the posters available at the Peacework Silent Auction and Sale, May 17 (see Contents)

How many Americans know that our government effectively ceded control of the British Isles to the Pentagon fifty years ago in exchange for access to aid for reconstruction, nuclear secrets, and military intelligence? It has recently been revealed that that there has never been a "formal agreement" for the US military presence in Britain. An article in the New Statesman of April 9th this year states "the secret deal, struck with a nod and a wink, was in order to avoid any form of parliamentary or democratic scrutiny... In a dispatch to the British ambassador in Washington in 1949, Ernest Bevin, then Labour Foreign Secretary, said: 'There has never been a decision taken by the Cabinet regarding the permanent location of American bombers in this country; neither had we ever reported the question to Parliament.'" This same Ernest Bevin was an architect of NATO and was once heard to say "I want the bomb and I want one with a bloody Union Jack on top of it."

What actually took place was that an "ambassadors' agreement" was made between Lord De L'Isle and Dudley, the air commander in charge of the air force, and the American ambassador of the time, Winthrop W. Aldrich. Ever since then, this sceptred isle has played host to US forces. At one point in the 1980s there were almost 200 US bases here. There were always signs posted "Royal Air Force" or "Royal Navy" but we all knew who was in charge. No wonder we called ourselves the unsinkable aircraft carrier.

With the end of the Cold War most of those bases were closed. We saw the departure of Cruise Missiles from Greenham Common and hoped that eventually the only Americans based here would be Madonna and some pretty fine writers. But just when we thought it was safe to watch "Frasier" without feeling guilty, along comes "Son of Star Wars." A crucial element of the plan for National Missile Defence is that intelligence and early warning bases at Menwith Hill and Fylingdales in North Yorkshire will be extended to incorporate part of the monitoring system watching for incoming missiles targeted at the US.

The British Prime Minister Tony Blair knows that the people who elected him are deeply unhappy at the prospect of hosting facilities that make one of our National Parks a prime target, but he is mesmerised by the "special relationship." He is fond of using the metaphor of Britain being a "bridge" between the US and Europe. With the arrival of George II and his court in the White House, I suspect that he is just about to find out that the "bridge" is about as stable as the one that fell down over the Tacoma Narrows. The stresses that Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, and co. are putting on their allies around the world mean that something has to give somewhere soon.

Those of us who have been following the NMD story for a while suspect that the Blair government has asked the US not to ask for permission to use Menwith Hill and Fylingdales, whilst indicating that it will not ultimately stand in the way of NMD. Another "ambassadors' agreement" perhaps? But the world has changed out of all recognition since the late 1940s.

Britain is part of an increasingly confident European Union, and it's sister governments on the Continent are not impressed with Bush's inept and dangerous policies. The US withdrawal from the Kyoto Treaty was a wake up call for Europe and dramatises the profound difference in the political priorities of the Bush Administration and mainstream British and European opinion. The Texan oilman in the White House may think the only thing that matters is the access of American SUV drivers to cheap gas and high corporate profits for those who bankrolled his election campaign. He may expect his "allies" to acquiesce in the deployment of NMD. When he meets with European leaders in Sweden in June, he will come face to face with a very different political reality than the one he is used to in Washington. Let's hope the shock waves travel right across the Atlantic.

US nuclear missiles were based in Europe in the 1980s and were met with a huge protest movement that led to their removal soon after. North American, British, and European citizens worked together then to bring the world back from the brink. If public opinion can be mobilised sufficiently strongly, we can turn the tide again. British and European politicians need our support to stand up to Bush, and we need the American people to wake up too!

1. A Footnote on Foot and Mouth:

The last couple of months have been very grim in Britain for farmers, rural communities, and the animals they care for. Foot and mouth is a non-life threatening infection which is highly contagious and affects all cloven-footed animals. A vaccine used in many countries is available but affects the sale value of livestock once they have been protected by it. The reason vast numbers of sheep and cattle have been slaughtered and burnt is not to protect the animals but to preserve the British export market for meat. The vested interests of the National Farmers Union and the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food have led to a national disaster for the countryside. Small farmers who have built up a relationship with the land and their animals over many, many generations have been the real losers. When the smoke finally clears from the funeral pyres, we need a national debate about how we produce our food. The global market has once again failed the living world.

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