tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3939909775405220345.post6694313986216940861..comments2024-03-01T10:16:11.283-08:00Comments on AmericanStudies: March 17, 2015: AmericanThaws: The US and the UKAmericanStudierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06483077716534996778noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3939909775405220345.post-66766907904848741842015-03-17T06:05:49.361-07:002015-03-17T06:05:49.361-07:00PPS. My colleague and friend Irene Martyniuk share...PPS. My colleague and friend Irene Martyniuk shares the following thoughts by email:<br /><br />"I would throw in two points. The 1956 Suez Canal Crisis was a real big moment for Britain. As far as I learned, which was not much, I admit, the Brits really believed that the Americans would have their six and were shocked when America opted to not get involved. If WWII hadn’t made it clear, this moment did—the US was a super power and Britain, on her own, was not.<br /> <br />I would add in that the Brits in Afghanistan since 2001, with their service ending in 2014, has been a different experience than the tenure of the Americans. It is one that can be tracked in their soldiers’ memoirs, which basically have a set formula (I actually picked up 7 more while overseas last week—they are short, always paperback, and thus light—and rather inexpensive). While there is much to say about this formula, one aspect of the Brit experience is that the Afghans have not forgotten the three Afghan-British Wars. Not by a longshot. The attitudes towards the different groups of NATO and ISAF are really interesting to follow, if you are into that sort of thing.<br /> <br />I totally understand that Iraq is an entirely different and unpleasant story, but going into Afghanistan is more, I would suggest, than just Britain and America. It has been the only time, as we both know, that Article 5 of NATO has been invoked, so there were obligations from all member nations to go. ISAF ended up, at its peak, having somewhere around 56 member nations."AmericanStudierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06483077716534996778noreply@blogger.com