Regards, Ivan
Posted on 02/10/2003 6:12:16 PM PST by MadIvan
SEVERAL weeks ago, sandwiched between a news item about three ducks causing road mayhem on a Route Nationale and a fascinating insight into the world of French accountancy law, our local television news station broadcast a tiny report about the Ark Royal, fully equipped, leaving Portsmouth en route to "the war in Iraq".
War? Was it official? Not yet, my British friends told me. Were the French feigning indifference? Had they decided to stay out?
And what did the local worthies think about it all? I live in a little spa town, close to the Swiss border, which had its heyday at the time of Nap-oleon; one of its proudest boasts being the invention of an ice-cream specifically created for the three-year-old Napoleon III. Sometimes one gets the impression that nothing much ever happens here, and that the locals are content to rest on their culinary laurels. But this little town of some 2,000 souls was occupied by invading forces twice in the last century , and has witnessed havoc and heartache caused by military action throughout its history.
We have our own heroine of the Resistance, although it is hard to reconcile the title with the doughty ancient dame, she of the bad perm and thick ankles, whose only activity these days is to potter with her geraniums, concerned more with winning the town’s floral prize than the vagaries of war.
Yet we live not far from the American cemetery at Epinal, a sad and evocative place, and the Maginot Line is just up the road. The warring continued here for another year after the liberation of Paris. It is easy to look out the window and imagine Steve McQueen roaring up the main street on his "great escape"... but that’s possibly just a personal fantasy.
After another television news snippet - the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier General de Gaulle leaving on manoeuvres in the Mediterranean - it seemed that attitudes had changed in the weeks between these news items. I spoke to Robert Harneis, the north-east France correspondent for the English-language newspaper The News. He confirmed that an IPSOS survey on 15 January revealed that 77 per cent of people polled, regardless of their political affiliations, were totally against the war, but he felt that if the poll were to be conducted today we would see a radical change in favour.
I queried some of the general managers of the iron foundry at Liverdun. Their response was guarded and circumspect: they felt that France should await the UN directive but expressed concern over the divisions being created in Europe by this debate.
I realised that to get a consensus of opinion I might be better employed talking to people who knew me well and therefore would be less guarded with their words. I cornered a dear, sweet neighbour of mine, Clothilde (heart of gold and teeth of porcelain - I am delighted to shatter the myth that all French women are chic and elegant). Normally the combination of clacking choppers and thick Vosgienne accent is enough to deter me from any lengthy discourse. In the middle of her telling me how fat the hens were who’d laid the feathery eggs she had brought me as a gift, I asked her about Iraq.
"C’est triste. Yes, how sad for all the poor, innocent people who will die. Our parents remember the last world war here. It was hard for us all, but what are we to do?" Her concerns centred not on political argument, but on her husband. He had been a cook in the army and was now a reserviste; if France was to enter a war then his services would be called upon. Tony Blair was very handsome but, un peu presse ... a little too much in a hurry to get somewhere".
Later the same evening over dinner (a good time to press the French on anything) with my friend Martine Meyer, a local teacher, and her mother, the answers were much the same. But as Martine said: "Yes, we pity the innocents, but terrorism must be eliminated. What to do? The attitude to the war is changing rapidly. Every day we are made aware of new facts."
The last word goes to Mme Meyer, an elegant 85-year-old Parisienne: "In every conflict throughout history the innocent have suffered. It is a fact of war. I remember the Allies arriving in Paris to liberate us. We are morally obliged to support them. We can never allow ourselves to forget."
Regards, Ivan
Morons...INNOCENTS ARE DYING NOW!!! Saddam is KILLING IRAQI's.
French still opposed to war with Nazi Germany. Talk of imminent surrender hits the airwaves. White flag flies atop of Eiffel Tower.
I will consign the French to hell, readily, but I often wonder what the media in their country is spinning to them, as they devolve into the worst of socialism.
The French I knew personnally 20 years ago were arrogant, to be sure, but also models of practicallity.
What happened to them?
Not that it really matters at this point, and not that I am interested in exploring the self-induced destruction of the French.Oh well, forget my idle curiosity on their motives.A couple of successfull attacks by terrorists and who knows how they will react?
It is no longer of interest to me, nor does it seem they should expect it to be of interest to the rest of the world.
I don't know. I think we were obliged to help defend the British Isles for the same reasons we used to try to defend vietnam and Korea. It was clearly a domino problem that would have soon been at the mouth of the east river had all of Europe fallen. To eradicate Hitler meant to liberate France. It was aparently just an unfortunate by-product of a successful campaign.
Move forward 60 years, to hell with France.
As well you should. A thoroughly French dish for foreign consumption.
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