Friday, June 23, 2006

An Ally For the Ages

Charles Krauthammer today has a column up on the United States' most loyal and trustworthy ally, and the results might surprise you. Quick, what is the only country to have fought side-by-side with the United States in every single conflict since 1914? Is it England? France? Canada? None of the above?

Over the years, the United States has had a strange group of bedfellows- from Communist Russia in World War II to the then-primitive Hmong tribespeople during the Vietnam conflict. However, the only ally who has been steadfast throughout is the republic of Australia. Though we have had our differences, (who can forget Australia's rather foolish insistence on no-nuclear weapons during the 1980s but in the main, the Aussies have stood together with us since the dark days of the 1915 trench wars. They are unique in being able to make that claim, and they are the only one of our allies who has been steadfast in the pursuit of the Muslim terrorists who constitute our current enemy.

Mr. Krauthammer presents a wonderful overview of this staunch ally. Read the whole thing, courtesy of TownHall.com.

07/03/2006 CORRECTION: In my original post, I mistakenly identified Australia as a republic. As a reader corrected me, Australia is a constitutional monarchy- the Queen reigns though she does not rule. Thanks for the correction, mild colonial boy!

1 comment:

Mercurius Aulicus said...

Australia is not a republic - it's a constitutional monarchy. The function of the Queen in the Australian constitution is preformed by her representative, the Governor-General, who is chosen by the Prime Minister. For more detail see http://www.answers.com/topic/monarchy-in-australia.