U.S. Expats in UK Hit by Wave of 'Anti-Bushism'

Thu November 13, 2003 08:53 AM ET

By Paul Majendie

LONDON (Reuters) - The British abandoned their stiff upper lips and hugged Americans after 9/11. Now much of that goodwill has evaporated and the blame is being laid firmly at the door of George W. Bush.

After the twin tower attacks, a military band broke with tradition and played the American national anthem at the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

Less than 18 months later, one million people took to London's streets to protest against the forthcoming U.S.-led war in Iraq.

Now with President Bush heading to these shores next week to see Tony Blair for what should have been a triumphal reunion with his closest ally, the 200,000 Americans living in London are reflecting on how times have changed.

They recall with wonder how the British dropped their innate reserve after the attacks on September 11, 2001.

But now, after wars in Afghanistan and Iraq where British and Americans fought side by side, they face a wave not of anti-Americanism but anti-Bushism.

"It's tougher being an American in London than it used to be. Our President has made it so," said Newsweek Magazine's London correspondent Stryker McGuire.

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