Analysis: American perceptions shaped by horrors of 9/11

ONE of the things people in the UK do not fully understand is that 9/11 was an earth-shattering event for the United States.

It had experienced the Oklahoma bombing, but the sheer number of people killed on 9/11 and the fact that it was in the middle of New York – after a history of no bomb being dropped on the US and an assumption it was protected by the Atlantic and Pacific oceans – had a major impact on the way Americans saw the world and terrorism.

The Gary McKinnon decision very much falls into this way of thinking. What the Americans see is a man who hacked into their security systems and committed what they saw as a major act of terrorism, in terms of undermining their national security.

Then they see the UK government blocking the extradition of this man. There is no doubt that it is going to have an impact on transatlantic relations.

The government leadership should get over this set back relatively quickly. But in Washington it will play for a long time – not least in the House of Representatives in Congress, particularly among right-wing politicians who want to take a hard line on terrorism.

The decision of the UK government to look at the wider agreement on extraditions will feed this resentment even further.

Here in the UK, there is a perception that people cannot get a fair trial in the US unless they have money. There is also a perception that the British justice system is the best in the world and we do not want the Americans telling us what to do. But we must remember that the people in US have a similar perception that their own justice system is the best in the world and its writ should run.

It is unlikely that yesterday’s decision by will cause long-term damage to the Special Relationship, because the two countries share so much. It certainly will not have the same impact as the spy scandal in 1963, involving Philby, Burgess and McLean giving the Soviets information. That became an issue of the integrity of British security and was very damaging.

• Trevor Salmon is a professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Aberdeen.