PrintThe death of British sovereignty
America may soon lose its most trusted ally in the world. Britain is on the verge of surrendering to the European Union. It is an historic moment that should be showing up in blaring headlines ——— but it is slipping in so quietly that only a few people have talked about it: Margaret Thatcher, George Will, Mark Steyn, Peter Hitchens. There are books with about it with titles like The Rape of the Constitution, The Abolition of Britain, and America Alone. Those warnings should be taken seriously, but Washington seems to live in blissful ignorance.
In a matter of months Britain will hold a referendum on the EU Constitution. If that Constitution passes, the Anglo—American alliance will soon be history. Along with it will go the common defense of a democratic West. (See my previous AT essay on "The Rise of EuroNationalism,")
To understand Britain's looming precipitous decline, imagine Hillary Clinton being elected President of the US, backed by a two—thirds Democrat majority in Congress. Add the highest level of Political Correctness ever seen, including criminal penalties for anybody who speaks words that offend victim groups. Mix in a culture of government dependency for every single person. Give Dan Rather and CBS a monopoly over the broadcast media, and let Jimmy Carter run our foreign policy. Finally, let Mexico and Canada decree half of our domestic regulations. That is the mind—boggling situation Britain faces today. The EU Constitution will lock in Britain's decline and subordination to the European Union.
Ten years ago Margaret Thatcher called it a 'nightmare.' But Britain has now blundered closer and closer to the precipice. If it accepts the EU Constitution, the country will slip right over the edge, and its sovereignty will be irretrievably lost. The EU Constitution is exactly the opposite of the US Constitution; it does not limit the power of central government but expands it to nearly Soviet proportions. It is the dream of control freaks ——— everything is controlled by Brussels, from the curvature of legal bananas to the limits of acceptable speech. Lady Thatcher has said that socialist Prime Minister Tony Blair
"is committed to the progressive extinction of Britain as an independent nation, and indeed to British democracy as it has developed over the centuries."
And Peter Hitchens wrote that
'We are on the threshold of national abolition and the merger of Britain into the European Union.'
As for America's role in the world, Hitchens believes we are seeing the
'imminent creation of a potentially hostile new socialist superstate on the continent of Europe."
Even the CIA now reports that
'The EU, rather than Nato, will increasingly become the primary institution for Europe, and the role Europeans shape for themselves on the world stage is most likely to be projected through it."
Piece by piece, the British socialist government is giving up:
——— control of the British military. The British Army, Royal Air Force, and Royal Navy are being cut severely, and part of the remainder will soon be assigned to a European Defense Force. Soon, the EU will have a veto over British military decision making.
——— control of British foreign policy. The EU demands a common foreign policy — meaning that France and Germany will decide together with Britain what policies to adopt. Given the level of animosity toward the US among the elites in Europe, those policies will not be friendly to us.
——— control of domestic police powers. Today, the European bureaucracy can issue arrest warrants for British citizens. The time is not far off when EU police will be able to range far and wide across the old national borders. Sovereignty means independent control of one's nation. That is going fast.
——— free speech and the right of habeas corpus. Recently the head of a small nationalist party was arrested for criticizing Islam in a private meeting.
——— the sovereignty of Parliament, the centerpiece of British democracy. The unelected European Commission is taking on the powers of the British Parliament, while the European Parliament itself is not even allowed to propose any laws.
——— democratically accountable government. The EU is run by the new Axis Powers ——— the Franco—German axis, with walk—on parts for the smaller countries. They are the new ruling class. The capital of the new superstate is Brussels, but the strings are pulled in Paris and Berlin.
The strange thing is that there is almost no public outcry over the slow sinking of England. British pride has been beaten down by decades of propaganda. Patriotism is now politically incorrect. Even the Conservative Party has turned wobbly.
What does all this mean for the United States?
First, the highest priority of EU foreign policy is to split the Anglo—American alliance. If Britain becomes just another province of the EU, Tony Blair will be the last Prime Minister to have the freedom to ally himself with us. When Jacques Chirac recently visited London, he very plainly told the press that once it fully enters the EU, Britain would not be able to be an 'honest broker' between Europe and the United States. Chirac was telling Britain, 'it's my way or the highway.'
The EU is a deadly serious effort at world domination, or, in Eurospeak, at 'countering American hegemony.' Nothing is more important, as its politicians keep telling the world.
A split in the Western alliance will change the world more than any event since World War II. If Britain is swallowed up, the United States will be isolated. We had a taste of that when Saddam was overthrown, and anti—American rage swept Western Europe. Tony Blair almost lost his own Labour party. Some of the hatred for America was apparently whipped up to swing public opinion toward the EU. If you can't rely on the Americans, runs the argument, there is only one alternative, the new Super—Europe.
Second, we will see a resurgence of European Nationalism, some version of the traditional mass egomania that led to World War I and II. It will take a different form this time, however: It is more likely to be shaped by socialist dreams of world domination. The EU already denies that it will be a nation, just as Lenin's Soviet Union denied that it would ever be a nation. Instead, it is the vanguard of a new international order of peace and compassion, if you believe today's Europropaganda.
Third, the Gulliver strategy. Jorge Castaneda, former Foreign Minister of Mexico, has advocated a 'Gulliver diplomacy' toward the United States
'I like very much the metaphor of Gulliver, of ensnarling the giant, tying it up, with nails, with thread, with 20,000 nets that bog it down; these nets being norms, principles, resolutions, agreements, and bilateral, regional, and international covenants.'
Kyoto, anyone?
The Gulliver strategy has been in operation for years, and when the EU becomes a superstate it will accelerate. At the United Nations, European diplomats have protected some of the worst actors in the world to cut down our 'hegemony.' They have systematically allied themselves with tyrannies like Saddam's Iraq, Khomeinist Iran and genocidal Sudan. The UN is now an extension of a resurgent Europe. It is all understandable as a Gulliver strategy.
Fourth, there will be a powerful rise of the Left all over the world. Today's Democratic Party gets virtually all its ideas from European socialism. Nearly half of the American political spectrum is already dominated by EuroLeftist thinking, including our media, Hollywood, and our educational system. The United States is seeing a carbon copy of the gradual cultural assault that brought Britain down. That assault will be greatly strengthened when Europe becomes a superpower.
In sum, even during the War on Terror, Americans should keep their eyes fixed on Europe. What is happening to Britain today can happen to America tomorrow.
Isn't it time for the United States to do something? Or at least start talking about the problem?
