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Source: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/12/02/special-relationships/
Special Relationships
(Commentary) Martin Kramer - What compels the U.S. openly to acknowledge two "special relationships" - with Britain and Israel - is that these two foreign states embody old cultures to which the American public feels profoundly and uniquely indebted. Given that debt, the U.S. government assumes the obligation to show a bit of respect and work a little harder to make its case when its policies impinge on the interests of those two states. When they dissent, as Britain did over Syria and Israel now does over Iran, it's their privilege to do so and still win American praise as "special" friends who are entitled to speak their minds freely. The writer is president of Shalem College in Jerusalem.