The Anglo-U.S. special relationship


Britain and the U.S. formed the core opposition to Iraq

By CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour

LONDON, England (CNN) According to popular legend it was the Iron Lady herself, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who pushed then President George Bush into confronting Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait.

As she said at the time: "We cannot have the situation when one country marches in and takes over another country."

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Britain and the U.S. formed the core of the opposition to the Iraqi invasion. It was they who convinced allies all over the world to join the mightiest and broadest military coalition ever assembled, they who provided the bulk of the forces to that coalition and they who were mainly responsible for pushing the Iraqi army out of Kuwait.

"The closeness of our friendship meant we could understand what needed to be done in a way other countries would not have done so," British Foreign Office Minister Peter Hain says.

"Just as we stood shoulder to shoulder on Iraq and contained him as a threat, so I think we'll stand shoulder to shoulder in the future."

Standing alone

The passage of time has left the U.S. and Britain standing almost alone against Saddam's regime.

They remain steadfast in their support of continued sanctions against Iraq, while it is primarily their planes that carry out the task of patrolling the skies over Iraq and periodically launching bombing raids when Baghdad steps out of line.

Iraq organises frequent demonstrations against U.S. and British policy. London and Washington are vilified across the entire Arab world, and at home too.

Protesters pelted British Prime Minister Tony Blair with tomatoes last week, while two years ago the U.S. Administration suffered a public relations disaster when protestors at Ohio State University disrupted a speech on Iraq by senior government officials, chanting "One, two, three, four, we don't want your racist war!"

In the past year alone British and U.S. planes have dropped nearly 500 tonnes of bombs on Iraq and both countries spend more than $1 billion a year enforcing the no-fly zone.

This at a time when the bombing campaigns and sanctions policy against Iraq are being increasingly discredited.

With sanctions effectively crumbling, Iraq's isolation ending, it's reserves full from illicit oil sales, will there be a change of policy?

No, says Hain. "At least Saddam has been contained from invading neighbours, from using chemical weapons, lobbing missiles at Israel. That has been the success of the sanctions policy."

Until they are convinced that Saddam's regime has given up its weapons of mass destruction for good, British officials insist that they and their U.S. partners will continue to stand firm together against the man they call the most dangerous tyrant in the world.