Posted on 03/07/2003 5:45:49 PM PST by MadIvan
So often the grey man of British diplomacy, Jack Straw last night let rip at the French foreign minister in front of a shocked UN Security Council, calling on the international community to enforce the disarmament of Iraq "on its own terms".
In what one admiring American delegate referred to as a "diplomatic call to arms", Mr Straw spelled out in the clearest terms that time had effectively run out for Saddam Hussein, his lies and his prevarications.
He launched an impassioned tirade at Dominique de Villepin and France's policy on Iraq in an outburst that marked a new extreme of rhetoric in the row over how to deal with Saddam.
Staring M de Villepin in the eye and packing his speech with liberal references to "Dominique", Mr Straw directed what turned into an ad hominem assault on his French counterpart.
Mr Straw heaped scorn on the logic of countries - especially France - that are set on giving Iraq more time. "Dominique, you said that the choice before us was disarmament by peace or disarmament by war," Mr Straw said. "Dominique, that's a false choice."
M de Villepin, by far the most charismatic spokesman for the anti-war camp, had no option but to sit through his reprimand. But the expression on his face - and its colour - betrayed rage at his treatment.
The ambush - the French, like everyone else in the room, had no idea what was coming - was the most heated public spat between a senior British and French official in recent times.
It was all the more unexpected because, as Foreign Secretary, Mr Straw has earned a reputation as one of the most colourless, if solid, performers on the world stage.
Whether by accident or design, Mr Straw deployed two English borrowings from French to tear into his opponent. He attacked the concept of "automaticité", the notion that voting for UN resolutions against Iraq automatically triggered war, which was a "canard", he thundered.
Giving the UN chamber a taste of the invective and emotion normally confined to the Dispatch Box in the Commons, Mr Straw also laid into M de Villepin over his underplaying of the role of US and British troops in the Gulf.
The presence of "young men willing to put their lives on the line for this body, the UN", was the key factor in compelling Saddam to make concessions, not diplomacy, he said.
The passion of his argument over the impact of the military threat as opposed to diplomatic pressure appeared to put Mr Straw off his stride. "Dominique, with respect to you, my good friend, I think it's the other way round. I really do.
"The strong outside pressure is, and let's be blunt about this, the presence of over 200,000 US and UK young men and young women willing to put their lives on the line for the sake of this body the United Nations."
Mr Straw continued: "There is only one possible, sensible conclusion that we can draw. We have to increase the pressure on Saddam Hussein. We have to put this man to the test.
"The Iraqis have the answer already - it may take time to fabricate further falsehoods, but the truth takes only seconds to tell."
He said Britain, the United States and Spain were tabling an amended resolution giving Saddam 10 more days to disarm peacefully and warned fellow foreign ministers on the council that if Iraq did not comply, action must follow.
"The council must send Iraq a clear message that we will resolve this crisis on the United Nations' terms, the terms which the council established a month ago when we unanimously adopted resolution 1441."
Gesticulating to emphasise his points and straining to keep the reading of his notes to a minimum while making eye contact with those seated around him, Mr Straw demanded that the council must not retreat from its demands set out in 1441.
"What we need is an irreversible and strategic decision by Iraq to disarm, to yield to the inspectors all of its weapons of mass destruction and all relevant information which it could and should have provided at any time in the last 12 years."
The international community had a duty to remember that the only reason that Saddam had changed in recent weeks and furnished inspectors with more information "was for one thing only - the pressure on the regime. Strong outside pressure."
The only way to achieve disarmament "is by backing our diplomacy with a credible display of force".
"We have to increase the pressure and put this man to the test," he said of Saddam in a pointed attempt to heighten the impact of his words by demonstrating that Britain felt it was dealing with a recognisable figure rather than a faceless regime.
"He can act with astonishing speed when he wants", by handing over thousands of pages of documents within days when the pressure builds on him.
First, things have changed a lot since 1945. Second, even by this time, people paid much more attention to the liberation of cities than to concentration cmaps, which only became a hot topic years later.
Are you breathing pure air where you are, or is the Paris smog settling in your cerebral cortex?
I'll only be back tuesday in Paris. I have no problems with fresh air, I'm in Corsica right now: your compatriots call it "The island of perfumes."
Truth has a way of resonating on its own.
Look, Ivan, dozens of millions of westerners feel more hatred now for Bush than for Bin Laden. Is that "truth resonating"? Polls indicate that they consider the US to be a greater danger then Iraq or NKorea. Can't you realize how insane the public opinion has become? The whole continental Europe is now thinking upside down out of the simple fact that it is tired with american domination. No matter how great America is or will be, its public relations department is doomed, period. Forget about your truth resonating, it does not happen any longer in Europe as long as America is part of the picture. And it's all America's fault: it's too succesful.
If anything, you should NEVER have strong-armed Gbagbo. His was a legitimately elected government - your machinations diluted that authority.
Well, you know, Gbagbo is basically as legitimate as Arafat. He ran him campaign on a platform or pure "Ivoirite" and racial hatred. He organized commandos who have slaughtered en masse. He's no better than the guys on the other side.
You are constantly telling us about how we should be sensitive to what the Arabs want, mate. Pay attention to the Ivorians before you start lecturing us.
Our motivation for this differenciation is simple: the arabs can be very dangerous, not the ivorians.
I've strongly advised my mother's friend to get the hell out of there; she already has plans to come to the UK if it gets much worse.
Regards, Ivan
1- My governments have consitently hated NATO.
2- Withdrawing from the US will bring you less leverage then it will bring to France. That would be a miscalculation.
Oh so the liberation of Baghdad will just be completely ignored. Give it a rest.
Look, Ivan, dozens of millions of westerners feel more hatred now for Bush than for Bin Laden. Is that "truth resonating"?
It's the left wing media gaining the upper hand temporarily. The difference between you and me is that you want to swim along with the tide, whether it is right or wrong. The Americans and I are saying, Damn the tide, we'll do the right thing - the truth will out in the end.
And indeed it always does.
Well, you know, Gbagbo is basically as legitimate as Arafat. He ran him campaign on a platform or pure "Ivoirite" and racial hatred. He organized commandos who have slaughtered en masse. He's no better than the guys on the other side.
Evidence for this? I no longer accept anything you say on face value.
Our motivation for this differenciation is simple: the arabs can be very dangerous, not the ivorians.
So you're cowards then. Basically you're saying it's OK to pick on (relatively) unarmed Africans, as they are not dangerous, but a genuine threat must be coddled.
No wonder the Ivorians want to have done with you.
Ivan
Okey dokey.
But if you get into trouble, you know you're on your own. We now feel free to ignore you.
See, you need us more than we need you. And that chafes your butt.
Oh, cut this xenopbobic bullshit, will you? This wave ceased immediately in may 2002. These attacks were coming from muslim teenagers which have been stopped by the new law-and-order interior minister. This has been reported by every french jewish association (by the way, I am from a jewish family too). But of course, since you only seem to read The Weekly Standard, FR oir the NY Post, you're not aware of this, are you?
Now I know you're lying. I just got off the phone 40 minutes ago with my mother (who is in Paris on a business trip) who just had lunch with her friend. She said absolutely anti-Semitism is on the rise in France and just as absolutely, she feels it.
You are LYING, Monsieur. And it is a disgusting spectacle to see such mendacity, cowardice and arrogance wrapped up in one package.
Ivan
Because France would be considered as even more lunatic than it is today if France left, by both the US and other NATO members. But if the US decide to leave NATO, that will provide France with an excellent opportunity.
Not that this is the opinion of my governments, not mine. I love NATO and I absolutely want it to keep working. Who knows, even Russia can become a danger again if Europe is left alone.
You know something, this year has been difficult - the economy is bad, and the war is coming up, it's not been fun. However I can be thankful, praise God in Heaven above, for one brilliant blessing He has given me - thank God, I was not born a Frenchman.
Regards, Ivan
Go to hell, Ivan, because I'm not. The situation of the jews is a daily topic of my conversation with my jewish colleagues and family, and either your mother is as francophobic as you are, either she's just plainly misleaded, because no one agrees with her. Heck, even The Economist (The Economist, godammit!) had protested against the campain on "french antisemitism" at the time the tide was still strong, and even Cuckiermann, the most vocal pro-Sharon and anti-semeitism fighter in France, has all but said in his recent public speeches that the situation was now under control.
It did? Really? Poof, just like that? Then how come French Jews have left or are leaving France? Because of your sucking up to your Islamic base and ignoring or outright denying anti-semitism exists in France starting with Chirac, you're driving Jews out of France--at least the ones that didn't die when the French turned thousands of Jews over to the Nazis in WWII. Your country is openly hostile towards Jews, denying it exists makes you a liar.
And I'm still waiting for you to source the list of "30 years of US vetoes at UN," most of which are for Israel. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/859716/posts
I see, so I should believe you over an old friend of the family. You are absolutely lying. I have no reason to believe anything you say - your posts drip arrogance, corruption, vanity, cowardice and falsehood.
either your mother is as francophobic as you are, either she's just plainly misleaded, because no one agrees with her.
You don't agree with her - while your ego is monstrously sized, you do not constitute "everyone". And it wasn't my mother, it was an actual French Jew who told her. My mother needed no prompting; and as for being as "francophobic" as me, hardly. She doesn't pay as much attention to the news as I do, so she doesn't have as many reasons to be totally fed up with your attitude.
Heck, even The Economist (The Economist, godammit!) had protested against the campain on "french antisemitism" at the time the tide was still strong, and even Cuckiermann, the most vocal pro-Sharon and anti-semeitism fighter in France, has all but said in his recent public speeches that the situation was now under control.
Right, I believe everything the French Government says. Give it a rest.
I dare say it's time to add "naive" to the list of traits you've shown.
Ivan
A literal translation of the French national motto?
What "french governemnt"? Cuckiermann has never been part of the governement! Cuckiermann if the spokesperson of the "Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France". He is strongly conservative and pro-sharon and was the Weekly Standard's and the NY Post's favorite interviewee when they were writing about french antisemitism.
No matter what, the fact remains that I got off the phone 40 minutes ago with my mother, who just had lunch with an old friend of the family, a French Jew. She says that anti-Semitism is absolutely on the rise and she says she feels threatened. She also is strongly pro-war.
She has no political motivations to say such a thing to my mother; there is no machinations or anything to be gained by saying such a thing. My mother has known her for over 20 years. I am willing to accept what she says over anything you have to say. I am willing to accept also that anti-Semitism is a problem in France; I dare say either the spokesman you quote is having his comments trimmed to suit you, as you are a known liar, or you are either lying absolutely. In any case, I will take a look.
Ivan
In this game of dope-a-dope poker Bush has called the UN's bluff. And France is threatening not merely to play its two of jacks--it's promising to play it with gusto.
Following that petulant play, the game will break up, the losers including France will go home, and Bush and Blair will proceed to kick Saddam Hussein's heinie up the road and back again.
Anti-Semitism Rising in France
By Eva Cahen
CNSNews.com Correspondent
January 09, 2003
Paris (CNSNews.com) - As Jewish leaders raise alarms over an increase in anti-Semitism in France, figures showed that in 2002, French emigration to Israel more than doubled.On Wednesday, French religious leaders and officials, including four former prime ministers, gathered for an ecumenical prayer service in a Paris synagogue in solidarity with Rabbi Gabriel Farhi, who was stabbed last week by an intruder shouting, "God is Great" in Arabic.
Jean-Yves Camus, a political scientist and spokesman for the European Jewish Congress, said the aggression "demonstrates that the series of anti-Semitic acts which peaked between autumn 2001 and spring 2002, and which decreased after the presidential elections, are on the rise again."
The attack came as officials criticized administrators from a Paris university who last month voted to end research and educational exchanges with universities in Israel to show support for the Palestinian Intifada.
Menachem Gourary, the Jewish Agency's representative for France and Mediterranean Europe, said the number of French citizens migrating to Israel rose to 2,566 last year, more than twice the 1,156 total for 2001. Indications from current applications were that the higher rate would continue this year.
"French Jews move to Israel for many reasons, including family and education for their children," said Gourary, "but one of the reasons they name sometimes is the rise of anti-Semitism."
Camus called on the government to offer a firm response to the stabbing. The assailant, who was wearing a motorcycle helmet when he attacked Rabbi Farhi at his synagogue, has not been caught.
Rabbi Farhi, a leader of the Liberal Jewish Movement of France, "is a symbol of what extremists everywhere hate: openness of spirit, involvement in inter-religious dialogue, support for Israel, but also the acceptance of Palestinian rights to their own nation," said Camus.
On Monday, the rabbi's car was burned in his parking garage.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair sent a message that was read at the ceremony, urging "people of all faiths to stand together in rejection of violence."
Lionel Jospin, Alain Juppe, Edouard Balladur and Laurent Fabius, all former French prime ministers, attended the ceremony.
President Jacques Chirac also condemned the stabbing.
The motion to break academic ties with Israel at the University of Paris VI brought criticism from UNESCO, which said in a statement on Wednesday that the university's boycott would work against the goal of peace and understanding through education.
According to Camus, the university's motion was a "result of pressure from professors and students belonging to the extreme left who support the radical wing of the Palestinian movement. It is a stupid decision."
On Monday, the Jewish Students Union of France held a rally in front of the university that drew hundreds of supporters, including officials and politicians, to demonstrate against the boycott.
Jean Kahn, a prominent French Jewish leader, interviewed on Radio Classique on Thursday, said he was worried about the increase of violent anti-Semitic acts even though he felt that most of the French population, including France's Muslims, was not anti-Jewish.
France has a population of some 600,000 Jews but also 5 million Muslims, mostly immigrants from North African Arab nations.
Last year, a wave of anti-Jewish aggressions that included vandalism in Jewish cemeteries, synagogues, and schools also raised an outcry against growing anti-Semitism in France.
This is a problem you dare not deny. For you to say it's merely "over" is an absolute lie.
Ivan
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