It seemed a strange way for allies to behave. Britain, a member of NATO, dispatched three gunships into what Iceland, a fellow NATO member, regards as its own territorial waters. Iceland retaliated by issuing a strongly worded protest accusing its ally of aggression, recalling its ambassador for consultations, and threatening to take the issue to the U.N. Security Council.
The squabble between the two seafaring neighbors was the latest episode in a long-running argument over valuable fishing rights in the cold waters near the Arctic Circle. For the third time since World War II, Iceland and Britain are near blows...