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Bastille Day
MONKEY BUSINESS
Lets say youre the head of government of a middle-rank power. You have no feelings one way or the other on the morality of things, morality being a simplistic Texan cowboy concept. In early 2003, what then would your line on Iraq be?
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. You know that, even if the drooling quagmire predictors of the press dont. So the next question is: If, for the cost of chipping in a couple of fighter jets or a rusting frigate, you can pass yourself off as an heroic co-liberator of a monstrous tyranny and position yourself for a big piece of the economic action from the new regime, why not go for it? It would appear to be, in the ghastly vernacular of the cretinous Yanks, a no-brainer.
Ah, but for those with a big sophisticated Continental brain its all more complicated than that. There are many idiotic incoherent leaders in the world, but Jacques Chirac is not among them. Say what you like about M. le President - call him irresponsible, call him unreliable, throw in shifty, devious, corrupt, and almost absurdly conceited. But hes not stupid. The issue for the French is very straightforward: Whats in it for us?
The trouble is the cheese-eating surrender paradigm is insufficient. If you want to go monkey fishing, theres certainly no shortage of Eurowimps: Since the, ah, unpleasantness of the early 1940s, the Germans have become as aggressively and obnoxiously pacifist as they once were militarist; they loathe their own armed forces, never mind anybody elses. But France is one of only five official nuclear powers in the world, a status it takes seriously. When Greenpeace were interfering with French nuclear tests in the Pacific, Paris sent commandoes to blow up the damn boat. I detest eco-loonies, but even I would balk at killing the buggers.
Just before the Iraq war, there was a spot of bother in Ivory Coast. We can skip the details - President Wossname represents the southern Wotchamacallit tribe and theyre unpopular with natives in the northern province of Hoogivsadam. Something like that. But next thing you know, French troops have locked down the entire joint and forced both parties into a deeply unpopular peace deal that suits the Quai dOrsay but nobody else. All of this while the UN is hunkered down in a month-long debate on whether to approve Article IV Sub-section 7.3 (d) of Hans Blixs Baghdad hotel bill. Ivory Coast is nominally a sovereign state. The French have no more right to treat it as a colony than the British have to treat Iraq as a colony. But they do. And they dont care what you think about it.
So in 2003 they werent appeasing Saddam. On the matter of Islamic terrorists killing American office workers and American forces killing Iraqi psychopaths, they are equally insouciant. Lets say the Islamists had long-range WMDs. If they nuked Montpelier (Vermont), M. Chirac would insist that Bush needed to get a strong Security Council resolution before responding. If they nuked Montpellier (France), Iraq would be a crater by lunchtime.
Merlin1047 said:Great article. Thanks for the link.
Oh, by the way - I understand Michael Moore needs a hug. You up for that?
:teeth:
Kathianne said:Damn you! I never posted anything like he was misunderstood! Like you did lady hill! :funnyface
Deal with it! :shocked: Scary scenario I know, but you were the one that was 'Feeling her pain'
Kathianne said:not nearly as good as you did yourself! Ok, Hill, knees up!... gross! We'll leave you now!:teeth:
