Will the Brits Stand By? It's Not In Their Character...

News&Views

The Armchair Curmudgeon

April 2, 2007







It is Not In The British Character to Do Nothing!



Can anyone recall Britain sitting still when its people have been held hostage by a foreign power?.



No, of course not. Britain would not tolerate it!



They may not rule the seas as before; and the sun may set on soil non-British, but that would not deter the Brits one iota when it came to protecting its citizens in foreign lands.



We must not underestimate their resolve. The Brits have backbone.

Since the days of Victoria, the Brits have not taken kindly to challenges especially when they involve threats to its people anywhere in the world. And until the Falklands, they have stood by their values.



Not in memory has anyone taken British hostages without England showing up with dozens of gunboats or some kind of show of force to bring the opposition to its knees. Whether it was the Fuzzy Wuzzies in Africa. Or at the Khyber pass or even in Rangoon or Mandalay where the Brits put an end to Japanese plans for South East Asia as payback for their bad manners in Singapore. And this policy has not changed one iota. It was true in World War II, and in South East Asia. Nor can anyone who has been there forgotten the fearless Scottish bag pipers of the Black Watch out front of the steely Brits seeking to take back Korea from the North?



Our English friends have stood up to any incursions or threats with a by your leave and an unchanging view of their world prerogatives. And that has been the case even with Argentina’s violations of the Falklands.



It must be said that Brits have not lowered their standard of protecting their own. That’s why one suspects that Iran will not be allowed to get away with this audacious act challenging British authority—something that they would never try before without facing the might of Empire. This, of course, has nothing to do with whether the incursion was either right, legal or judicious something most of us could argue about over a good Guiness. Britain doesn’t concern itself with such things when its power is in question. .



One suspects that the plans are already in full sway to get their people back safely and to preserve their perfect track record of standing tall when it comes to threats to English power. So, don’t be surprised if you wake up one morning to discover that SAS were dispatched to Iran and pulled the rescue off brilliantly with no casualties thereby preserving British respect in the rest of the world, securing its cherished tea and seasoning routes while sipping a little sherry and sharing "A Well done, old chap" while the rest of the world jumps up and down. .’…



Les Aaron