When Al Qaeda struck New York and Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, 2001, the United Kingdom was one of the first countries to stand with the United States. Prime Minister Tony Blair declared that Great Britain stood “shoulder to shoulder with our American friends.” British forces contributed to the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, and many British soldiers died waging the broader war on terrorism. The actions both former President George W. Bush and Blair took came at a significant political price, but they both understood that their alliance and special relationship came with responsibility and was not simply a collection of rhetorical throwaway lines.
Former President Barack Obama treated the special relationship with disdain. In what could only have been calculated insults, he returned a gifted bust of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and gave Queen Elizabeth II a collection of his speeches. President Trump also got off to a rocky start with his British allies after he criticized supposed no-go zones where Muslims had imposed religious rule.
Now, however, Trump has the ability to make right past wrongs and restore the special relationship to what it has always been: an appreciation of democracy and an understanding of the need to work together in support of freedom.
The number of casualties might be different but, by using a chemical weapon — a military-grade nerve agent — on a former Russian spy and his daughter in Great Britain, Russian President Vladimir Putin has attacked a NATO ally. While Putin is refusing to explain his actions and is threatening the British government with retaliation if Russia faces any consequences, it is essential to hold Russia to account.
For one, Great Britain should sever diplomatic relations with Russia, and every NATO member should in solidarity withdraw its ambassador from Moscow and demand the Russian ambassador leave their country. The United States might also close Russian consulates and even the embassy: If dialogue is necessary, there is always the Russian ambassador to the United Nations.
There is some precedent for such extreme diplomatic steps: When Iranian assassins murdered dissidents in Paris, the French severed diplomatic relations. When Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the murder of author Salman Rushdie, the United Kingdom suspended diplomatic relations. And when a German court found that Iran had directed the murder of dissidents in a Berlin cafe, every European Union member with the exception of Greece withdrew its ambassador from Iran.
True, Russia is not Iran. They speak Russian. But when it comes to respect for international diplomatic principles, there is increasingly little difference.
It is also time to suspend visas for all Russians connected in any way to the Russian government. Travel to the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union should be a privilege, not a right. And if Russia wishes to isolate itself further by retaliating with its own visa restrictions, then its economy will pay the price.
British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Thomas Tugendhat would go further and seize assets, such as mansions which Russian oligarchs have acquired in London. He is right, and Britain’s Unexplained Wealth Orders provide the legal framework to do so. In addition, neither the United States nor the European Union should export any oil extraction technology to Russia.
Such actions may seem extreme, but there really should be no debate: Russia attacked one of America’s closest allies and must pay the price. If the State Department, British Foreign Office, and European Foreign Ministries respond, instead, with the diplomatic equivalent of double secret probation, then Putin will conclude not only can he get away with murder, but the West is weak and unable to muster credible defense. That would be a very dangerous situation indeed, for Putin will simply conclude that he can repeat such actions elsewhere, perhaps including in Washington, D.C.
Michael Rubin (@Mrubin1971) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a former Pentagon official.
