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Jens 'n' Frens
Idle thoughts of a relatively libertarian Republican in Cambridge, MA, and whomever he invites. Mostly political.
"A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures."
-- Daniel Webster
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Thursday, January 30, 2003 :::
Eight European nations back U.S.Eight European leaders affirmed gratitude to the United States Thursday and wrote that U.S.-European ties "must not become a casualty" of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's attempts to "threaten world security."
In an indirect reference to opposition by France, Germany and Russia to U.S. plans to disarm Iraq militarily, the leaders of Britain, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Denmark used the op-ed column to thank the United States for "bravery and generosity" in ensuring peace in Europe.
It has been said that the administration views our allied support as being like a donut; we'd really like France and Germany there in the middle, but we do have a lot of support from a lot of allies. Slate suggests that "it can't be long before someone declares the need for regime change in Paris."
In June 2000, during President Clinton's last year in office, France was the only one (talk about unilateralism) of 107 countries to refuse to sign a U.S. initiative aimed at encouraging democracy around the world. A year earlier, State Department spokesman James Rubin complained, "We do find it puzzling and passing strange that France would spend so much energy and focus so much attention on the danger to them of a strong United States rather than the dangers that we and France together face from countries like Iraq." The French oppose the United States, quite simply, for what it is—the most powerful country on earth.
::: posted by dWj at 10:24 AM
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