Posted on 02/04/2003 4:57:09 PM PST by Capitalist Eric
WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- France is no longer an ally of the United States and the NATO alliance "must develop a strategy to contain our erstwhile ally or we will not be talking about a NATO alliance" the head of the Pentagon's top advisory board said in Washington Tuesday.
Richard Perle, a former assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration and now chairman of the Pentagon's Policy Advisory Board, condemned French and German policy on Iraq in the strongest terms at a public seminar organized by Iraqi exiles and American Middle East and security officials.
But while dismissing Germany's refusal to support military action against Iraq as an aberration by "a discredited chancellor," Perle warned that France's attitude was both more dangerous and more serious.
"France is no longer the ally it once was," Perle said. And he went on to accuse French President Jacques Chirac of believing "deep in his soul that Saddam Hussein is preferable to any likely successor."
French leaders have insisted the country will oppose any military action against Iraq without a second resolution by the United Nations Security Council, where it holds one of five crucial veto powers. Last November France did vote for Resolution 1441, which promised "serious consequences" if Iraq did not cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors verifying that Iraq has indeed dismantled its programs for chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
"I have long thought that there were forces in France intent on reducing the American role in the world. That is more troubling than the stance of a German chancellor, who has been largely rejected by his own people," Perle said, referring to the sharp electoral defeat suffered by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's party in state elections Sunday.
Although he is not an official of the Bush administration, Perle's position as the Pentagon's senior civilian adviser gives his harsh remarks a quasi-official character and reflects the growing frustration in the White House and Pentagon with the French and German reluctance to support their U.S. and British allies.
"Very considerable damage has already been done to the Atlantic community, including NATO, by Germany and France," Perle said.
"But in the German case, the behavior of the Chancellor is idiosyncratic. He tried again to incite pacifism, and this time failed in Sunday's elections in Hesse and Lower Saxony. His capacity to do damage is now constrained. Chancellor Schroeder is now in a box, and the Germans will recover their equilibrium."
Perle went on to question whether the United States should ever again seek the endorsement of the U.N. Security Council on a major issue of policy, stressing that "Iraq is going to be liberated, by the United States and whoever wants to join us, whether we get the approbation of the U.N. or any other institution."
"It is now reasonable to ask whether the United States should now or on any other occasion subordinate vital national interests to a show of hands by nations who do not share our interests," he added.
But, at least the UPI is now putting this observation in the public eye...
Should read:
Pentagon adviser: France 'no longer ally' (Thank God!)
Unfortunately, Mr. Perle, the North Atlantic Treaty -- part of the ultimate "Law of the Land," according to the U.S. Constitution -- says otherwise. You don't get to cavalierly discard allies, under treaty, that you dislike. You work with them ...
... or you give up the treaty. Or you reconsider the worth of the treaty in the first place. But neither of those possibilities ever occurs to you, does it? And we know how readily you discard the "Congress shall have the power ... to declare war" part of the Constitution.
Toss away France, and you toss away NATO. We'd be better off, anyway. We'll now soon be pledged by that treaty to go to war if Lithuania is attacked by Russia. That's worse than the "we don't apparently own any maps" guarantee given by Britain to Poland in 1939.
Not true. France withdrew in a snit from NATO back in the 1960s, ostensibly to build its own "separate deterrent" force. While maintaining observer status, France never submitted its forces to NATO command. I'm no particular fan of the French, but in retrospect, I have to admire such a stubborn streak of sovereignty...
Amen. Best quote of the year.
It's almost enough to make you want to ask what their first good clue was,isn't it?
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