Posted on 03/23/2003 11:38:33 AM PST by knighthawk
A White House staff said recently that Bush never really liked French food. Ironically, Jacques Chirac loves New York and MacDonald hamburgers. Just the same, from day one, America and France have had stark differences about what to do with Saddam Hussein. France has always been in favor of disarmament, but was opposed to any use of force against Iraq because perhaps the French felt they could convince Saddam, through peaceful and diplomatic means, to give up the weapons of mass destruction. But for the US, Saddam is "the weapon of mass destruction," and even the Palestinians accept this as a fact. Edward Said, a well-respected Palestinian intellectual, said in an interview in LA Weekly back in 1991, ""Palestinians are not fools, and Saddam Hussein is not seen as their saviour… every Palestinian knows that a tyrant and a reckless adventurer and a man whose record in the Arab world is frightening cannot represent any hope for Palestinians."
The French, it seems, has always been contra-pelo whenever it comes to the US. In fact, America has been very patient with them… until now. Apparently, their decision to veto the second resolution of the US and Britain has irritated Bush to no end. Americans got so peeved by it that even in trifling matters, like French fries are now called "Freedom Fries," one could feel the resentment of Americans. Television stand-up host Jay Leno joked about them in his last show, saying, "The French announced today that they would not help us remove Saddam from Iraq. Well, duh! They didn’t even help us remove Hitler from France." Dave Letterman, another late-night TV talk show host, said, "France said this week they need more evidence to convince them Saddam is a threat. Yeah, last time France asked for evidence, it came rolling thru Paris with a German flag on it." The US just simply and totally gave up. Now, Chirac is backtracking. He said France might assist the US-led coalition if Iraq used its chemical and biological weapons. But it’s a bit too late. The White House just gave them the cold shoulder. In fact, a senior White House official said, "I think France would have to fight us to get into this conflict."
France’s hemming and hawing led some people to believe there was more to the opposition than meets the eye. Charles Krauthammer of the The Washington Post said "France sees the opportunity to position itself as the leader of a bloc of former great powers challenging American supremacy." Others believe France is just protecting its own interest because an attack on Iraq might threaten its alleged wheeling and dealings with Saddam Hussein. America, on the other hand, has always wanted to get rid of Saddam’s regime of terror. The US got hold of raw intelligence information that Saddam Hussein is one of the biggest supporters of the al-Qaeda terrorist network, funding particularly the activities of suicide terrorists. Washington also has proof that Saddam was the brains behind the assassination attempt on George Bush Sr. when the former president visited Kuwait. It was the 9-11 tragedy that ultimately sealed Saddam’s fate, and this is the key reason the US military singled him out as the biggest threat to American security next to Osama bin Laden.
Both the US and France have a long history. The relationship of both countries dates back when America was still a struggling young colony of Britain. American revolutionaries fought side by side with French troops during the war for independence against the British in 1781. Despite their ultimate victory at Yorktown, more than 40,000 French soldiers died in that war. The Statue of Liberty was actually built and given by the French government to the US to celebrate that friendship. During World War I, more than 115,000 American servicemen fought and died on French soil to defend France from its enemies. More than two million allied forces (a bulk of which were young American servicemen) landed on the beaches of Normandy to liberate all of Europe from Hitler’s Third Reich, France included. Both countries continued being allies even during the 1991 Gulf War.
The conflict between the US, Britain and France could spell the death of the United Nations. Or, it could be the catalyst that would introduce necessary changes in this world organization. At present, small countries like the Philippines have no voice in the UN Security Council. Technically, there are only five permanent members of the Security Council with the overwhelming and invariable authority to decide and power to veto: France, China, Britain, United States and Russia. I dare say the fate of the whole world should not rest in the hands of five countries. It’s about time the UN considers certain changes in the system. In very serious matters like transnational terrorism and global war, it would be best to have the entire UN General Assembly vote for and against an issue, with the Philippines casting its own vote. Small countries like ours, at the end of the day, have only the UN or the US to protect us.
And now there’s a strong possibility the United Nations could crumble with Tony Blair and George W taking their French leave from the Security Council. One thing is sure though, French food will not be served at the White House and at No. 10 Downing Street for a very long time.
First smile on this grim day. And if france had stood with us it might not have happened.
May they receive what they deserve in the coming months, years and decades.
This writer has his facts seriously wrong. Forty thousand French soldiers were never around to have been killed.
According to this site, there were only 25,324 Americans killed in the Revolution.
I missed that!
There were only 7,000 french at Yorktown. And only 4,435 American casualties in the whole war. 40,000 french dead is not possible.
Well, then, 40,000 French dead is even stupider.
That number probably includes the 35,000 or so who died of fright before ever making it to the battlefield.
The French Government announced today that it is imposing a ban on the use of fireworks at Euro Disney.
The decision comes the day after a nightly fireworks display at the park, located just 30 miles outside of Paris, caused soldiers at a nearby French Army garrison to surrender to a group of Czech tourists.
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