Friedman: The End of the West?

The New York Times ^ | 11/02/03 | THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

[Arkie2]

It will take a 9-11 on European soil to get their attention. They would blame it on us though. We stirred up the hornets nest aftr all./sarcasm.

[68skylark]

America saw the strength of Europe as part of its own front line and vice versa.

I think he overstates our regard for European strength in the cold war. And Friedman is too quick to confuse moral squalor of Old Europe with the more vibrant nations of New Europe that are helping us in Iraq. But overall I agree with his thesis.

[doug from upland]

I think his name was spelled incorrectly. Isn't it Mr. Bilge?

[leadpenny]

Marked to read later.

[Cicero]

Leaders of all three nations have behaved badly and have weakened the West, even if they have not ended it.

Whatever he might have said earlier in this article that makes sense, that tears it.

[polemikos]

"[The EU] is the new European Soviet."
-- Mikhail Gorbachev, March 2000

[billorites]

Europe is a collection of lovely little museum countries.

Bear in mind when planning your visit that they're closed Mondays.

[arete]

It will take a 9-11 on European soil to get their attention.

France and Germany and the vast majority of the rest of the world wants nothing to do with our occupational war and attempts at installing an American puppet regieme in Iraq. You can't blame them as our adventure will undoubtedly fail miserably and at much additional cost. Every year it will be more money down the rat hole and more lives lost in a misguided attempt to consumerize the Iraqi people.

Richard W.

[Batrachian]

Would you be upset if we succeed?

[SevenDaysInMay]

The up and coming apparatchiks with the EU devotion have forgotten that their own grandfathers and great-grandfathers did their best to destroy Europe.

Had not America contributed millions of lives to save Europe from iteself, a new dark age would have consumed this new, smug generation in the womb or before.

Now they do not care. EUnichs mock our Christian, cowboy President from Texas. They are quick to mock Americans as being "independent".

EUnichs may fancy that French will again become the Lingua, but they gravely risk that tongue being Lingua Arabia.

Looks like hair in the sink. Sounds like hair in the throat, before it is slit.

Euopeans will find themselves in Eurabia, either groveling towards Mecca five times a day tangled in head coverings and carpets or dead.

The first on the psychopath's, may piece be upon him, koran's kill list, before even the spawn of pigs and monkeys Jew, is peaceful and apostate muslims. Aloof, post-modern Europeans will not make good muslims, so they will be replaced by the busy wahhabees and their henchmen jihadies, just as was the plan before the Battle of Tours.

By attacking America in this Terror War of annihilation, jihadies knew that Euopre was not like America. Europeans would not come to the aid of a bloodied America, but would sit and mock her defense.

Oily jihadies may not have underestimated American fascist leadership such as the Clintons' DNC-Politburo, but they most certainly underestimated Americans. I think that the jihadies got the Europeans about right.

[Arkie2]

Well, that's probably what you hope will happen but it's not going to end that way. Hope it doesn't upset you too much when we accomplish our goals there.

[arete]

Would you be upset if we succeed?

No, but then again I still believe in Santa Claus.

Richard W.

[wizardoz]

Many Europeans really do believe that a dominant America is more threatening to global stability than Saddam's tyranny.

Well, we ARE the greatest threat to "stability." For them, stability is when things -- no matter how awful -- don't change. Well, we're going to change things if we must.

[wizardoz]

Europe is a collection of lovely little museum countries. Bear in mind when planning your visit that they're closed Mondays.

And those in charge of cleaning the bathrooms are evidently union workers.

[wizardoz]

LOL! Do you do open-mike night down at the American Legion?

[goldstategop]

No, no and no. We don't need a U.S-Europe summit. Once Europe was the fulcrum of the world but today it can hardly lift its shriveled muscle. All it does is whine at the U.S about its impotence as well it should. I'd recommend that Tom Friedman start reading Robert Kagan's The Paradise And Power for a succinct but through discussion of why America and Europe appear to be travelling on different paths. An Al Gore Administration would have muted the rift for awhile but the reality is we're just too strong to want to act like a weak country. We don't need to. In short, we don't owe the Europeans a damn thing and they owe us everything for the last half century in which American power kept them from falling into the Soviet orbit. Something to think about.

[proud American in Canada]

"Leaders of all three nations have behaved badly and have weakened the West"

No they haven't. The leaders of France and Germany have behaved badly. In contrast, GW has gone out of his way to be polite to them, all while remaining firm in his committment to American security.

[GopherIt]

Bump

[68skylark]

Part of me is shocked by your attitude. But another part of me is genuinely interested to know why you feel that way. Are the Iraqis incapable of living their lives with more freedom, democracy and liberty? Or is there some other factor that dooms our efforts to failure?

I take the opposite view. I agree with whoever said it’s the manifest destiny of the United States to help spread liberty and prosperity to the rest of the world. That’s not to say it will always be easy or that every battle will be successful – that won’t happen. But as a taxpayer this is one of the few things that I’m happy to help pay for. And as a soldier it’s something I’ll fight for.