Posted on 11/11/2005 7:32:50 PM PST by Wrangler22
As one who wrote his Masters Thesis about the EU before it became a reality I have been quite interested in the project and have followed it with interest over the years. I look not only at the positives but the negatives as well, and have come to the conclusion that it will ultimately go down as one of the great social failures of the West.
Not only has the Euro lost much of its strength, but the once vibrant economies of individual countries are now foundering under the burden of the "common market". In the case of France the deteriorating social conditions have begun to manifest themselves in violence. This violence is not random events by misguided youths, but is yet another set of events being orchestrated by radical Islam. In the years since 911 we have seen the Madrid train bombings, the death squads in the Netherlands who murdered Theo Van Gogh for insulting Islam, The riots in Brussels, The London Train bombings, the conflict with Islam in Eastern European nations that were formerly part of the USSR, and the riots in France.
Mark Steyn wrote a column in the UK's Spectator where he said:
Now go back to that bland statistic you hear a lot these days: about 10 per cent of Frances population is Muslim. Give or take a million here, a million there, thats broadly correct, as far as it goes. But the population spread isnt even. And when it comes to those living in France aged 20 and under, about 30 per cent are said to be Muslim and in the major urban centres about 45 per cent. If it came down to street-by-street fighting, as Michel Gurfinkiel, the editor of Valeurs Actuelles, points out, the combatant ratio in any ethnic war may thus be one to one already, right now, in 2005. It is not necessary, incidentally, for Islam to become a statistical majority in order to function as one. At the height of its power in the 8th century, the Islamic world stretched from Spain to India, yet its population was only minority Muslim. Nonetheless, by 2010, more elderly white Catholic ethnic frogs will have croaked and more fit healthy Muslim youths will be hitting the streets. One day theyll even be on the beach at St Trop, and if you and your infidel whore happen to be lying there wearing nothing but two coats of Ambre Solaire when they show up, you better hope that the BBC and CNN are right about there being no religio-ethno-cultural component to their grievances.
I recommend you read the column and ponder its meaning as pertains to Europe.Link to the article, registration required.
http://www.spectator.co.uk/article.php?id=6901&issue=2005-11-12
I don't see either hapening either. They believe that the great war will be fought in their holy land (Iraq) and that this is it. They will not stop, the Left around the world just does not get it.
I believe it is one of the great "under the radar" stories, which will have profound, and unpredictable consequences, both socially, and in those elections. What I hear at the "ground level"- man on the street in Georgia- is that a vast wave of resentment has built up against the scofflaws and their enablers in business and politics. The GOP sweeps this under the rug at their peril.
While debating a European (British), my point was that the US is losing its Euro-centric identity. America is becoming more multi-ethnic. A lot of people immigrating to the United States becoming citizens and voters have no reason to love Europe. Should Europe find itself in a hole again it should not automatically count on America to come to its aid. I was basically told to go F myself as Europe will never ask nor need America's help. Ok, debate over.
Watching the events of the last two weeks I would say that Europe would be wise to re-access its relationships. They are falling apart with every passing day. Unemployment, lack of national pride, socialism, are the least of their problems. They are an explosion waiting to happen. As a history major (European Medieval, Renaissance, Reformation), my heart hurts when I think of what is happening there. Each day, though, as the insults, invective, and abuse flows from Europe toward my country, my President and my fellow citizens, I find myself caring less and less.
It is an odd situation. Europe seems obsessed with alienating America's Rightwing. Don't they understand that if anyone were to aid Europe, the Right would be the impetus of that help. The Left would diddle while Europe burns as evidenced by the behavior in Paris.
Do I care? Yes, I care about the great architecture, great art works, and religious history that will be destroyed by the soon to be muslim masters. As for Europeans, I am sure there are still people of good will in Europe, but far too few to make any difference.
I agree. I shed a tear for old Europe today. I suppose that viewing the subsequent non-reaction by Europeans to the beginning Islamic takeover of france has settled something in my mind and heart.
Old Europe will soon be no more and we Christians in the US will be all that is left of it. I would have never dreamed it to be so in my heart but my head has been pointing me in that direction for years.
Funny how the heart is the last to know.
"I was basically told to go F myself as Europe will never ask nor need America's help. Ok, debate over."
I have been to Europe a few times, and likeyou, enjoyed the architecture, countryside, etc.
However, the prevailing attitude among Europeans is that Americans lack culture and sophistication. Speaking for myself, that may be so, but they will soon find out that what they hold dear is not important to the Muslim masses.
An eerily familiar scene played out today in Germany as some 2,000 neo-Nazis clashed with police outside Germany's largest World War II military cemetery. The neo-Nazis had staged the event to honor Nazi soldiers. It was a juxtaposition of views as the neo-Nazi extremists came to honor their icons, and the German police attempted to keep the memory of Nazi Germany a thing of the past. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,175395,00.html
My Way is reporting:
The two sides nearly came to blows when the neo-Nazis surged the police cordon in an attempt to enter the cemetery, which was blocked by the counter-deomonstrators.
Several officers were injured in skirmishes with the extremists, who were driven back and prevented from entering the cemetery. http://apnews.myway.com/article/20051113/D8DR88CG2.html
I see a lot of my own thoughts in your post. Art history student here.
I read of the destruction in cities like Lyon, Saint-Denis, Noyon, and Toulouse, and my heart hurts a little. Just to have seen the works of the faith that built those churches and cathedrals and to know that the bond that ultimately allowed Europe to be is now meaningless to such a large percentage of the population. And how could Europe not but come unwound? The church, all but abandoned after having arguably given life to the possibility of nation states, is now left lifeless, and without it, I don't see Europe rising again as a collective entity.
Really, is there any source of unity in these nations outside of anti-Americanism? As you said, there is little nationalism left outside of the hollow cheers for a soccer team. Precious little to bring the French together outside of negatives (anti-American sentiment, racism, etc...)
It does sadden me. I do feel a bond with Europe, having traced my ancestry well back into medieval England, but I honestly can't hold on to my past when the heirs to that past reject me and reject that past.
So I sit the fence, hopeful that France turns around and doubting it ever can.
Having spent time in Spain I can tell you that the country is covered with castles and mosques from the days when Islam ruled Europe. It was Ferdinand and Isabella that finally expelled them. Now they are back but Europe has learned nothing from their own history, and will probably fall again.
Great Britain
Al-Qaeda calls Queen an enemy of Islam
ABUL TAHER
AL-QAEDA has threatened the Queen by naming her as one of the severest enemies of Islam in a video message to justify the July bombings in London.
The warning has been passed by MI5 to the Queens protection team after it obtained the unexpurgated version of a video issued by Al-Qaeda after the 7/7 attacks. Parts of it were broadcast on Al-Jazeera, the Arabic satellite channel.
In the video, Ayman al- Zawahiri, second-in-command to Osama Bin Laden, targets the Queen as ultimately responsible for Britains crusader laws and denounces her as an enemy of Muslims.
Story
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1869849,00.html
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.