It is usual for me after I have written a piece in this paper supporting Ukraine to get large numbers of social media trolls – some of them clearly Russians pretending to be American – telling me I am a warmonger. Many of these attacks emanate from the Maga true believers who believe every conspiracy theory going. They buy the Trump lines about Ukraine. They embrace the isolationism that has become such a feature of this US administration.
But as June the 6th is the anniversary of D-Day, the day that the liberation of Europe began in 1944, I like to remember a different era of US politics. June 6th 1944 showed America at its best and greatest. It was a day that saw all freedom-loving nations standing together, fighting against tyranny to bring liberty to Europe.
I had the privilege of spending the day with President Macron on the 6th of June 2023. I was invited to present the Commandos Marine, the French equivalent of our Special Boat Service or the US Navy SEALs, with their hard-earned green berets alongside the President. This elite unit had its birth as part of the Free French forces in Scotland in 1942 alongside our Commandos. To this day they wear their berets pulled to the right, the same way as we do, and their instructors wear British camouflage pattern, not French.
It is usual for me after I have written a piece in this paper supporting Ukraine to get large numbers of social media trolls – some of them clearly Russians pretending to be American – telling me I am a warmonger. Many of these attacks emanate from the Maga true believers who believe every conspiracy theory going. They buy the Trump lines about Ukraine. They embrace the isolationism that has become such a feature of this US administration.
But as June the 6th is the anniversary of D-Day, the day that the liberation of Europe began in 1944, I like to remember a different era of US politics. June 6th 1944 showed America at its best and greatest. It was a day that saw all freedom-loving nations standing together, fighting against tyranny to bring liberty to Europe.
I had the privilege of spending the day with President Macron on the 6th of June 2023. I was invited to present the Commandos Marine, the French equivalent of our Special Boat Service or the US Navy SEALs, with their hard-earned green berets alongside the President. This elite unit had its birth as part of the Free French forces in Scotland in 1942 alongside our Commandos. To this day they wear their berets pulled to the right, the same way as we do, and their instructors wear British camouflage pattern, not French.