Allies, After All?

The Weekly Standard ^ | 09/23/2002 | Christopher Caldwell

[DB]

Shouldn't the EU only have one vote in the UN???

As they join together they should loose their multiple votes.

Or shall we have the 50 states of the US each have a vote?

[aculeus]

BTTT

[DB]

This is pretty amazing to watch!

[Wphile]

Oh, how I hope Stoiber pulls this one out. More than anything, the Germans should now be afraid of Schroeder because of his carelessness in addressing this issue. He proclaimed he would not support the USA not matter what in Iraq. What an idiot...all to get elected. That, coupled with his abyssmal performance on the economy - German unemployment is 10% or more - he shouldn't even be in the running. The guy reminds me of Grey Davis. Doofus to the core.

[Paleo Conservative]

But the center-left Suddeutsche Zeitung took the same tone: "With his thoughtless remarks, chancellor Gerhard Schroder has mired the Federal Republic even deeper in geopolitical irrelevance.

Sounds like the left is eating its own.

[VOA]

For the historical record:
As of the 6:00AM Pacific Time ABC Radio News (on KABC 790 AM in Los Angeles),
the countries that have lined up with the USA against Sadaam:

1. The U.K. (Britain)
2. Poland
3. Italy (no suprise, given how Michael Ledeen has documented the pro-USA mood in
Italy, post 9-11. Of course the Italian "intellectuals" except for maybe journalist
Oriana Fallaci have gone down the other path.)

IF ABC Radio News mentioned another country (and I failed to mention it), I apologize.
(I'm waking at 6AM!)

[dennisw]

STELLAR! Bumped to the cosmos. *Irrelevance* indeed. I love when the Euros get steamed. That's when they sure look purty. At least that's what the Muslim invaders think that stream into these dumb and dumber Euro-nations.

What a slacker bunch. Lazy godless bastards.

[dennisw]

STELLAR! Bumped to the cosmos. *Irrelevance* indeed. I love when the Euros get steamed. That's when they sure look purty. At least that's what the Muslim invaders think that stream into these dumb and dumber Euro-nations.

What a slacker bunch. Lazy godless bastards.

[Scott from the Left Coast]

This is what happens when socialists get over-ripe.

[Turbo Pig]

From the information in this article, part of the reason for France's sudden turn around on Iraq ("an economically crucial say in how any post-Saddam regime would be run") seems to smack of old style imperialism.

[Bahbah]

This whole turnaround just amazes (and delights) me. Think they want to be on the winning side?

[pepsi_junkie]

Thats a great point. I've often felt frustrated when the "hate america" crowd says things like how America uses more power than any other country or how we spend twice as much as any other nation on defense and for proof compare us to individual little countries like France, Germany, etc because typically if they compared the US to the EU, which has roughly equivalent population to the US, everything balances much more closeley.

[xJones]

Thanks for the ping, you gotta love this one!

President Bush, perhaps without meaning to, used a word that always jolts Europeans like a burst of electroshock. The word--which came up towards the end of his case against Saddam Hussein's weapons buildup--is "irrelevance."

Hahahahaha! Dubya, that "stupid, unsophisticated cowboy" told the U.N. off great. They blowed up real good!

[pepsi_junkie]

Interestingly, the article mentions how GW Bush had no foreign policy experience in 2000, and I recall how bitterly he was mocked. After all, he'd only been overseas once in his whole life, how could he lead the world's only superpower?

Since then he's made mincemeat of the career diplomats of the world. Pulling out of Kyoto will ruin us? Somehow it didnt. Oh no, that crashed jet in China will lead to war...oh wait, W saved the day. Pull out of the ABM treaty?!? Russia will attack! Oh wait, the president got them to agree even though he technically didnt have to. Not to mention how he built a huge coalition to level Afghanistan and now he is getting the world to line up yet again when frankly I thought they never would. The guy is just plain good on the world stage. He has respect and credibility and he somehow knows just the right way to pull strings without having to kiss butt. Gotta love it!

[McGavin999]

Half the German people have lines up behind Saddam. These are the same people who lined up and supported a lunatic who slaughtered millions, it only stands to reason they would just love Saddam.

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

[Kermit]

"And the Chirac government may even reap a political benefit, for the same polls that show an impatience with the United States also show a steadily growing panic in France over Islamic extremism."

All politics is local. As to Germany, too bad Stoiber didn't take the bull by the horns and go for supporting the US. The polls give that position 49%, which isn't a majority but both Schroeder and Stoiber won't get over 40% in the election. The remaining 20% of the vote will be split between the Greens, Free Democrats, former Commies and left and rightwing splinter parties. That would've made Stoiber into a more serious candidate. He's been too cautious in his campaign.

[Dark Wing]

ping

[speedy]

Besides England and Italy, Spain is very supportive. Denmark, Norway are on board. The French are backtracking toward us. The advanced Eastern Euros (Poland, Czech Rep., Russia) are with us. And as our miitary victory becomes obvious, everybody from Syria to Libya will be saying they were with us all along. W outsmarts the world again.

[Ciexyz]

US News and World Report had a mention about how dangerous Saddam is. Seems he called a meeting of some of his political opponents and lectured them -- then shot one of them point-blank in the head. Kind of like Al Capone did in the movie "The Untouchables" (except Al used a baseball bat.)