Mark Steyn: French opposed to war--unless it's their own

Chicago Sun-Times ^ | Februari 02 2003 | Mark Steyn

[knighthawk]

Mark Steyn ping

[knighthawk]

Europe-list

If people want on or off this list, please let me know.

[speedy]

He nails it again. Brilliant!! Thanks for posting.

[steve in DC]

The French war in the Ivory Coast is nothing more than a war for chocolate.

It's all about the chocolate!

No more war for chocolate!

[DManA]

Holy Cow! Is that true? It's enormous. Amazing I didn't read a thing about it.

Overlooked in last week's fuss about Gerhard Schroeder's and Chirac's thumbs-down to Bush was the real meat of their confab: the proposal to merge their countries' citizenship.

[MoralSense]

Yep. True. Big power play to control the EU.

[ricpic]

Does anyone seriesly believe a Franco-German super state can long endure?

We're talking oil and water here folks!

[reg45]

the proposal to merge their countries' citizenship

The last two leaders to try that
• Hitler
• Napoleon

[Real Cynic No More]

"If he [Saddam] nuked Montpelier (Vermont), Chirac would insist that Bush needed to get a strong Security Council resolution before responding. If he nuked Montpellier (France), Iraq would be a crater by lunchtime."

This really sums up the Iraq issue in a nice bow!

"This time round, who knows? But through it all France is admirably upfront in its unilateralism: It reserves the right to treat francophone Africa as its colonies, Middle Eastern dictators as its clients, the European Union as a Greater France and the UN as a kind of global condom to prevent the spread of the American virus. All this it does shamelessly and relatively effectively. It's time the rest of the West was so clear-sighted."

Yep, this bears repeating.

[canuck_conservative]

"If he [Saddam] nuked ...."

But that's the whole point of the US/Allies acting now - so that this situation WON'T EVER be given a chance to happen!

[Steel Wolf]

The first question to ask yourself is: Is Bush serious about war? If your answer is yes, the next question is: Will he win that war? Answer: Yes, and very quickly. ...

So the next question is: How will the Iraqi people feel about it? Answer: They'll be dancing in the streets.

The last question I would ask would be: What do we stand to lose when the truth about Iraq's WMD program is exposed? Answer: Lots.

The French will protest, kick, scream, and fight us to the last resolution before we go in for real. To steal a phrase, "Few love to see the evil they love to sell."

[fporretto]

Steyn is his usual incisive self. Not too many people are aware that French primacy is all that matters to the French.

The French blackmailed the US into supporting its repacification and recolonization efforts in Vietnam -- our entry to that incredible disaster -- as the price of their participation in NATO. Later, when they realized they'd be very junior partners in the Atlantic Alliance, they withdrew most of the way even from that, while America was stuck with the bag in Southeast Asia.

Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit the Palace Of Reason:
http://palaceofreason.com

[Howlin]

FYI.

[Howlin]

When France calls Bush to get in on the action, I hope he doesn't take the call.

And then I hope he holds them to the outrageous contract they have right this second for Iraqi oil, while the rest of the world pays lower prices.

Time to smack the French. I'm sick of them.

[okie01]

"We're talking oil and water here folks!"

Sauerkraut and Bordeaux would be a more apt simile...

[NovemberCharlie]

And both of them succeeded. It was when they tried to grab the rest of the world that they came up short.

Come to think of it, the main sticking points both times were Russia and Britain. If Chirac and Schroeder steer clear of them, it might actually work.

[BenR2]

Brilliant analysis.

[gd124]

The difference is that the government of the Ivory Coast invited them in.