Our War With France

N.Y. Times ^ | Sept. 18, 2003 | THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

[End Times Sentinel]

Our War With France

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

t's time we Americans came to terms with something: France is not just our annoying ally. It is not just our jealous rival. France is becoming our enemy.

If you add up how France behaved in the run-up to the Iraq war (making it impossible for the Security Council to put a real ultimatum to Saddam Hussein that might have avoided a war), and if you look at how France behaved during the war (when its foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, refused to answer the question of whether he wanted Saddam or America to win in Iraq), and if you watch how France is behaving today (demanding some kind of loopy symbolic transfer of Iraqi sovereignty to some kind of hastily thrown together Iraqi provisional government, with the rest of Iraq's transition to democracy to be overseen more by a divided U.N. than by America), then there is only one conclusion one can draw: France wants America to fail in Iraq.

(SNIP)

What is so amazing to me about the French campaign — "Operation America Must Fail" — is that France seems to have given no thought as to how this would affect France. Let me spell it out in simple English: if America is defeated in Iraq by a coalition of Saddamists and Islamists, radical Muslim groups — from Baghdad to the Muslim slums of Paris — will all be energized, and the forces of modernism and tolerance within these Muslim communities will be on the run. To think that France, with its large Muslim minority, where radicals are already gaining strength, would not see its own social fabric affected by this is fanciful.

(SNIP)

But then France has never been interested in promoting democracy in the modern Arab world, which is why its pose as the new protector of Iraqi representative government — after being so content with Saddam's one-man rule — is so patently cynical.

Clearly, not all E.U. countries are comfortable with this French mischief, yet many are going along for the ride. It's stunning to me that the E.U., misled by France, could let itself be written out of the most important political development project in modern Middle East history. The whole tone and direction of the Arab-Muslim world, which is right on Europe's doorstep, will be affected by the outcome in Iraq. It would be as if America said it did not care what happened in Mexico because it was mad at Spain.

(SNIP)

[Prodigal Son]

comments welcome

Good.

but i need to add germany as an enemy too...

You might want to give Dubya a call then and tell him of this move of yours. He is currently at the UN asking for the help of the EU.

[Prodigal Son]

BTW, your comments are welcome as well.

[End Times Sentinel]

Not sure exactly when, but it's been a couple years now, same deal with W/P LAT and a few others.  See comments 5 and 8.

 

I only know because I've had a couple of posts excerpted after I posted the entire article.

Owl_Eagle

" WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
DIVERSITY IS STRENGTH"

[Natural Law]

Agincourt!

[richardtavor]

You forgot another one--the Chirac government (especially with Villain Pain) is the same Vichy Government that supported Hitler and the Nazis. I pity the poor people of France that have to put up with their crap, and I know that they will end up with the same result as their Vichy forefathers.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Sorry, but it's LA Times and Washington Post articles that are restricted (and also newspapers owned by them, which the NYT certainly isn't).

[Prodigal Son]

I've been posting NYTs articles in full for the whole time I've been a Freeper. Posted one just the other day as a matter of fact. As far as I can tell, the machine is set up to auto excerpt the articles from certain sources. I've never had any problem with NYT.

[finnman69]

The NY Times is not part of the LA Times Wash. Post settlement.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/707390/posts

[Shermy]

Al-Sahaf Talks about the US- UK War on Iraq (Baghdad Bob speaks!)

The First Interview

Muhammed Sa'id Al-Sahaf, Iraqi Information Minister talking to Abu Dhabi TV Anchorman Jassem Obaid

Aljazeerah, September 18, 2003

“...Question 5: How did Iraq deal with members of the UN Security Council?

Al-Sahaf: We would contact any country which becomes a temporary member of the Council. We would send them delegations and materials to make our positions clear to them. More and continuous contacts were carried out with the three permanent members of the Council, France, Russia, and China. They were also given preference in oil contracts and trade to keep them as close as possible to the Iraqi side.

[untenured]

What I refer to are numerous statements on the part of Chirac and Villepin to the effect that they intend to form overall European Union political and military structures to act as a "counterweight" to U.S. efforts in those areas, at least to the limit of their ability to do so in what is ostensibly a federation incorporating different countries' policies on the matter. In reality, of course, the French are rather disproportionately influential in this regard, and their comments on the matter need to be given a corresponding weight.

We didn't even have to watch what they said, as watching what they did was sufficient. In the runup to the war France actively attempted to sabotage the U.S. pursuit of what it had clearly decided was a vital national security interest. They didn't act the way a disappointed ally would react, something along the lines of "This is a mistake but we hope it turns out for the best." They acted as an opponent.

The story is told of JFK's envoy going to see De Gaulle with satellite photos proving that the Russian missiles in Cuba were a real problem. Supposedly De Gaulle with a wave of his hand said that he didn't need to see the photos, the word of a direct emissary of the American president was good enough for him. IOW, for a truly serious matter the French would stand with us. Clearly, those days are gone. On serious and trivial matters they have resolved to mobilize the international community against vital US national interests.

...the seizure of the reins of this nascent superpower.

That's about the only consolation. The EU is a rapidly declining civilization and power, in part because of policies that the French government pushes. Soft power is no power at all in the end, and increasingly that's all the EU (the UK aside) have.