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British Claim
Yugoslav War Demonstrated Their "Moral Superiority" Over
USA
within the special relationship. The article, entitled "Bill and Tony Swap
Roles--Briefly," has the following highlights of sheer arrogance:
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"Whether by accident or design, Tony Blair is now in the
unusual position of being widely presented by his home newspapers
as superior--in influence, morality and even military
efficiency--to the American President. For the first time,
British voters are being told that the `special relationship'
consists of the need that the Americans have for us rather than
our good luck in being invited under their thumb....
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"Yet--while the NATO operation gave every appearance of the
lion genuflecting to the eagle once again--the special
relationship has significantly altered under the Blair
administration. It is now presented by ministers, journalists and
spokespeople as a kind of triumphalist subservience which
occasionally even shades into an implied superiority.
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"This shift can be attributed to two aspects of Clinton's
character: his sleaziness and his political survival instincts.
The former weakened his Presidency so severely that, during the
Lewinsky business, Clinton and Blair staged their first meeting
at which the President gained more in publicity and stature from
the PM's presence than vice versa. This reversal of neediness was
followed by a war in which Clinton was elaborately complimentary
about the contribution and significance of Britain....
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"But Clinton was not being magnanimous but Machiavellian.
One of his political survival tactics has been to attribute risky
ventures to someone else. Healthcare was his wife's project,
environment the vice-president's. If either scheme had been
successful, Bill would have been writing his name on the poster
but, in failure, the others retained their top billing.
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"So it was over Kosovo. Britain's war while things were
going badly, it became America's success. In Clinton's comments
yesterday, Britain was restored to its role as America's little
helper. Such is the special relationship and Tony Blair has
learned that--except for the few brief days when a
nearly-impeached Clinton needed an infusion of his moral
essence--it is impossible to change the rules of engagement."
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London Guardian, "Bill and Tony swap roles--briefly: U.S.
troops' tardiness highlights a shift in the special
relationship", June 12, 1999
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