To the Editor:
As unelected King Charles addressed a fawning Congress on the vicissitudes of democracy last week, a distinct whirring sound became increasingly audible. America’s Founders were spinning in their graves!
That government officials would invite the head of the Epstein-stained royal family to speak on the 250th anniversary of our righteous revolution against the monarchy is just abominable. The British Empire, in all its incarnations, has always been Iago to America’s Othello—a conniving adversary masquerading as a caring friend. The US-UK Special Relationship, epitomized by the infamous postwar slogan “British brains plus American brawn,” effectively consigned Washington to fight London’s wars, from Vietnam to Iraq to today’s Iran conflict.
The crimes of the Empire could fill volumes—literally. One particularly odious example: A succession of manmade famines over more than a century killed some 80-100 million Indians under British rule. That’s comparable to the death toll for both world wars! Not a single additional famine has occurred since colonial relations ended in 1947, convincingly refuting any fake argument that these were natural disasters.
