FAREWELL, FRANCE

New York Post ^ | 4/11/03 | RALPH PETERS

[kattracks]

April 11, 2003 -- AS the Baghdad regime's officials fled, leaving behind terrorists and thugs as a rear guard, a trio of Saddam's dismayed defenders met in Moscow. French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Russian President Vladimir Putin - the axis of non-nein-nyet - discussed their powerlessness to save a favored dictator.

[Pietro]

This is a forceful and beautiful response to the piece written by Gunther Grass that was posted on FR yesterday.

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[Grand Old Partisan]

We should not forget that an Islamic France will assume control of hundreds of nuclear weapons.

[ClearCase_guy]

Still, fairness is an American, if not a French, trait.

I dislike the French -- and yet they are quite fascinating. Our revolution sought Equality. Theirs sought Egalitarianism. To many, it seems counter-intuitive, but it you treat everyone equally, you end up with a fair society. But, it you strive for an egalitarian society, where everyone's situation will end up being the same, you end up with a very unfair society. That's the French. That's the Left.

[goldstategop]

I revel in France being brought low. They had the pretensions of being a great power but it turns out they're an overgrown Belgium with a fourth rate army that can't even pacify a former African colony.

[Grand Old Partisan]

In another twenty years or so, what we know about France will be totally irrelevant, as it comes to an Arab country.

[goldstategop]

Even the conservatives in France glorify the state more than they do personal liberty.

[goldstategop]

By then it may be more Muslim than French.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

[tictoc]

Ralph Peters is a retired Army officer who still is not convinced that Alsace should be part of France, or that Bavaria should be part of Germany.

LOL! I have met a fair number of Prussians (i.e., Berlin and Brandenburg) who told me with a straight face that the Bavarians are not Germans. Problem for "Freistaat Bayern" is, who can they join if they secede? Not Austria. As every Munich native tells you, the Balkans start right after Salzburg.

[Grand Old Partisan]

Yes, that's my point. An Islamic France will indeed be more Moslem (and Arab) than French. The history of Algeria will then be more relevant to France than is the history of France.

[aristeides]

Interesting paragraph in yesterday's column by David Ignatius in the Washington Post, Tipping Points:

The intelligence officials offered a tantalizing coda for conspiracy-mongers. They said the "crude forgery" received by U.N. weapons inspectors suggesting the Iraqis were trying to buy uranium from Niger as part of their nuclear program was originally put in intelligence channels by France. The officials wouldn't speculate on French motives.

[texson66]

Nicely Done! LOL!

[chilepepper]

Make no mistake: Marxism comes from FRANCE, not Germany.

The roots from Rousseau (French even if he lived most of his life in Switzerland) are unmistakeable, with the failed French revolution touting Egalitarianism being the trunk from which which grew the myriad branches of socialism.

You have hit the nail on the head: Egalitarianism implies that everyone is FORCED to be the same -- hence the French also give birth to all TOTALITARIAN regimes...

[katana]

Very good article. Sums up the French dilemma nicely.

not convinced that Alsace should be part of France, or that Bavaria should be part of Germany are sentiments which most Alsatians and Bavarians would share.

[Beck_isright]

Despite the speed that our boys occupied Baghdad with, the French still hold the all time record for the fall of a capital city. Paris in 1940 surrendered much faster than the Iraqis did. That's the only good thing I can say about the French, they surrender faster.

V

[xkaydet65]

One of the important outcomes of the events since 9/11 has been the emergence of intellectuals like Ralph Peters and Victor Davis Hanson.Grounded in reality, imbued with a patriotism for nation, history, and culture, these men with each essay demonstrate the superiority of the West, and why the West, and America in particular,is, indeed, in the words of President Reagan, "the shining city on the hill."

This is demonstrated, not in the works of our acedemia, but in the faces and deeds of the young men and women whose courage, honor, and commitment we have witnessed these last months. Michener asked the question "Where do we get such men?" Peters and Hanson have reminded us that they ARE us. They are the product of our history, our culture, our sense of right and wrong. For that fact alone we should be grateful to these two Americans.

[SkyPilot]

One of the most popular bumper stickers here in Germany says:

"Dump Schroeder...3 Wives Can't Be Wrong"