Britain Betrayed Its Daughters. America Should Not Abandon Them.
The United States has long pursued its interests abroad while invoking morality to justify them, at times in good faith, and other times as a convenient mask.
The current tragedy unfolding in Great Britain is a foreign policy emergency that offers a rare and genuine moral reason to act and also advances the national interest. Yesterday's horrific "Rape Gang Inquiry" release has highlighted gross institutional failure, individual cowardice, and rampant moral depravity.
The scope of this evil cannot be ignored by the United States government. But it is not only a question of morality. The practical problem is that the United States should not trust the current government of the United Kingdom.
A government that fails its own people in such spectacular fashion has demonstrated neither competence nor loyalty. The foundational promise between the governed and the government is security. And justice.
"Therefore, with justice removed, what are kingdoms but great robber-bands?" - St. Augustine, City of God , Book IV, Ch. 4
The United Kingdom's government has been measured against these accounts and found wanting. Further, a government that will not hold accountable the men who raped, sodomized, and tortured the children in its care, a government that feared political retribution more than it was enraged by the violation of its own daughters, has revealed where its institutional will actually resides.
A state that breaks faith with its own people on the most elemental obligation it owes them will undoubtedly break faith with an ally when the cost of loyalty rises.
This is not a question of British courage. The British soldier answered our call honorably through two decades of war, and I worked alongside the outstanding men of the Royal Marine Commandos myself. But the United States does not partner with the British rifleman. It partners with the British state.
That state has now shown us what it chooses to protect when protecting the innocent becomes inconvenient. And the rape and kidnapping of innocent British girls has only accelerated the drift between the American and British states in recent years.
Over 12,000 Brits were arrested for online comments in 2024. Free speech, the bedrock of Western culture, is now actively policed rather than protected by the British government.
Separately but relatedly, Britain has attempted to attack American Companies, SPCX, AAPL, and GOOG, through its Online Safety Act, antitrust laws, and other bureaucratic mechanisms. These actions, taken in concert, would make it difficult to argue that the British government is not trying to establish digital control over its people.
More practical evidence is that the British government has been penetrated by Chinese intelligence services. While this is a natural part of typical statecraft, the Brits' failure to prosecute the traitors in their midst is a further sign that the United Kingdom has become a security liability.
This leads a rational thinker to believe the current British regime is either incompetent, compromised, or unwilling.
But this relationship is worth salvaging.
The United States and the United Kingdom are stronger together than apart. Our individual and shared futures are inseparable from our history. As we heard from General Eisenhower in his 1945 Guildhall speech:
"Kinship among nations is not determined in such measurements as proximity, size and age. Rather, we should turn to those inner things--call them what you will--I mean those intangibles that are the real treasures free men possess.
To preserve his freedom of worship, his equality before law, his liberty to speak and act as he sees fit, subject only to provisions that he trespass not upon similar rights of others--a Londoner will fight. So will a citizen of Abilene.
When we consider these things, then the Valley of the Thames draws closer to the farms of Kansas and the plains of Texas."
Which actions could the United States pursue?
The United States has a range of tools it can use to pressure the United Kingdom to provide justice for its daughters in a thorough, rapid, and proportional manner. Achieving that justice will help mend the lost trust between the United States and the United Kingdom. As well as rebuild the relationship between British citizens and their government.
But most importantly, if American statecraft can help bring justice for those children, we should act.
Admittedly, taking any of these actions will be painful, but once the medicine has been administered, it will strengthen the fraying bonds across the Atlantic.
To accelerate justice for these girls, the United States government can take one, some, or all of the following actions: Note: Parentheticals provide the legal authorities and estimated severity of U.S.-U.K. relations.
- Five Eyes Alliance - Immediate moratorium of intel sharing with the United Kingdom. The Brits already denied us use of Diego Garcia during Operation Epic Fury and have refused to find a way to prosecute known compromised intelligence operatives. (It's an executive agreement, not a treaty; no statute is required to terminate or take action. SEVERE)
- Pausing BAE contracts - Including GOCO ammunition plants in Holston and Radford. (FAR authorities, MODERATE)
- Pausing Rolls-Royce contracts - The U.S. obligated >$1.2bn in funds to Rolls-Royce across the V-22, C-130J, and other weapons systems. (FAR authorities, MODERATE)
- 100% Tariffs on Cars (JLR) and Diageo (Scotch) - (Section 232, MINIMAL)
- Roll-back AstraZeneca/GSK pharma carveout - Snap it to 100% tariffs. (Section 232, MODERATE)
- CFIUS Sweep on UK investments - instruct OFAC to screen U.K. foreign investments, begin discussion on revoking the UK as an "excepted state" (DPA 721, SEVERE)
- Review HSBC operations in the U.S. - (Can also go through the Bank Secrecy Act, OCC, and FDIC, MODERATE)
- Global Magnitsky Sanctions - against named UK officials who knew of the abuse and acted to conceal it, obstruct investigations, or silence whistleblowers. (EO 13818, 22 USC 10101 et seq, MINIMAL)
These actions can be turned back once the United Kingdom prosecutes all parties associated with the "Rape Gang Inquiry". Undoubtedly, any of these actions would harm American national security and prosperity.
The question for American leaders is not if they could apply pressure to the United Kingdom, but whether they should.
Should the United States government take action?
The United States is not perfect. It's made tremendous geopolitical mistakes. And committed moral atrocities.
Involving oneself in domestic issues of a foreign ally is, at best, tricky and, at worst, relationship-destroying.
But this situation is unique.It is not a singular governmental failure. Nor a venial sin.
For decades, British girls were tortured, raped, and branded. The whistleblowers were harassed. The victims were ignored. It is a documented scourge.
And the British government was aware of these crimes and apathetically disregarded the cries of its daughters for political purposes. The options I listed, should the United States government choose to use them, could be painful to institute. But whatever pain the American government chooses to inflict, it will be worth bearing to help these young girls receive justice.
But do these options strengthen Starmer or take away from the focus on the victims?
Last year, when Elon tweeted about this evil, Starmer made it into a foreign v. domestic fight.
Critics may say that any action taken by the American government will strengthen the Starmer administration or irrevocably harm our historical Alliance.
With the release of the report, the "fake news" argument or the "limited situations" political spin falls apart. The Alliance has survived harsher times. 200 years ago, the Brits burned down the White House. Temporary economic pain, tariffs, and paused or canceled contracts won't end the American and British story.
But turning a blind eye and seeing no evil, hearing no evil, and speaking no evil - just might.
The British people will remember our silence and hold our inaction to account.
American leadership will make a decision on this matter. And leadership should remember that action and inaction are both choices.
Will the United States and its citizens simply spectate this evil?
Or will we help the British people achieve justice?
If the United States government does not involve itself in the domestic affairs of the United Kingdom because it views such action as more detrimental to America's national interest than beneficial, that's a realpolitik worldview.
And one that I understand.
But if American leadership decides to remain silent, it will truly have lost the ability to use morality as a reason for pursuing a foreign policy action.
And if they claim morality as a cause in the future, no one should believe them.
I certainly won't.
Our choice here matters, and the British people and their daughters will know what kind of friend America chose to be. Kipling told us there are two:
Nine hundred and ninety-nine depend
On what the world sees in you,
But the Thousandth Man will stand your friend
With the whole round world agin you.
His wrong's your wrong, and his right's your right,
In season or out of season.
Stand up and back it in all men's sight
With that for your only reason!
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