Maybe if we allow them to nuke us just a little bit, they'll get over it, eh ?
Ya know . . . I just don't "get it." I haven't been a virulent anti-Euro-weasel like some FReepers. Schroeder pissed me off with his anti-U.S. crap before their election . . . but I've been around politics long enough to know politicians of every nationality and every persuasion will say and do just about anything to get reelected. So I tried to hang back and wait for the dust to settle before I formed an "entrenched" opinion.
Well . . . the dust has settled and both Germany and France appear to still be doing EVERYTHING in their power to antagonize us.
Then I started doing a bit of research. Look back over our history . . . as far back as you care to look. Some say the French came to our aid during the Revolutionary War. That we never would've broken away from Great Britain without their help.
But did they REALLY come to OUR aid? Was that their MAIN goal? To help us?
Yes, there were French troops involved in our battle for independence. Yes, the French ships at Yorktown helped end the war once and for all. This is where I disagree with some. I think we still would've won our independence had they not helped. But that's not the point of this post.
Were the French not using us as surrogates to ALSO HELP THEM in their never-ending wars with the British during this time period? With just a few breaks in between outbreaks of war . . . the French and British went at each other from 1688 to 1815.
The French helping us in our battle for independence was more of the "the enemy of my enemy is my ally" theory than anything else. Some want to forgive France for all her transgressions against us because of their help . . . I say, yes . . . let's be thankful, but let's also remember that we were ALSO their ally in France's war against the British -- it wasn't a one-way street.
Then . . . the Germans. Ahhhhh, the Germans.
Some don't seem to know that even in our War of Independence that the Germans fought against us. That Britain hired German mercenaries called the Hessians to battle against us. Some 30,000 of them when the most troops George Washington personally commanded in the field at any one time was 17,000 troops.
So the Germans have NEVER been our allies. They weren't REAL allies in the Cold War . . . they just knew they would be a mere speedbump if the Russkies started moving West if we weren't standing in their paths. So the Germans tolerated us.
Only after I did all the research did I realize their current acts of betrayal weren't really acts of betrayal at all . . . they're simply acting like they've always acted towards us. France hasn't been a World Power since the 1800's . . . Germany since the 1940's . . . and, like Evander Holyfield, they just don't want to acknowledge that their times have come and gone.
So . . . now . . . all we can do is accept things for the way they are, not how some of us romanticize about how things once were. We never were all nice and fuzzy with the French or Germans. They needed us, they used us, and now that they think they don't need us, they're prepared to toss aside the years where, at least on paper, we were allies.
I say France and Germany are every bit a challenge to our national sovereignty as China. EVERY American recognizes the challenges we face with China . . . but a "supposed" ally selling off secrets and technological advances can do far, far more damage to us than can a country we know to watch with a sense of trepidation.
The ONLY ally we have in Western Europe is Great Britain. The others might as well be in the enemy side of the ledger until WE KNOW for sure where they stand. I don't see how anyone can call them an ally right now. Better safe than sorry.