Lest We Forget

[Tony]

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110003330 ...full article

BRUSSELS--"How did we get here?" asked a former French minister in a newspaper column recently. "Here" is a situation in which French Jews are being beaten up in the streets of Paris and in which President Jacques Chirac has to write to Queen Elizabeth to apologize for the desecration of British tombs in France, and in which one-third of the French have been pulling for Saddam Hussein to win.

An even better question is who brought us here. The former environment minister, Corinne Lepage, lays the blame on the government and an obeisant media for "having wanted to stigmatize American policy in excessive fashion." But it's time to name names.

Mr. Chirac brought us here, as did his foreign minister Dominique de Villepin. In Belgium the foreign, defense and prime ministers--Louis Michel, André Flahaut and Guy Verhofstadt--have brought their country to shame too. And that's just the start.





Mr. de Villepin, the pinup boy of diplomacy in "progressive" circles, was not just content to travel the world in an attempt to derail U.S. policy. Reportedly, he also has made instructive comments that make clear "how we got here." Mr. de Villepin, sources say, last week told members of the National Assembly that "hawks" in the U.S. administration are "in the hands of [Ariel] Sharon." According to the satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchaine, he went so far as to attack a "pro-Zionist" lobby made up of Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, White House staffer Elliot Abrams and Pentagon adviser Richard Perle, all Jews.
But it's not just a juif thing. Mr. de Villepin--who claims in his book "The Cry of the Gargoyle" to be a fan of both Machiavelli and Napoleon--never shies from messianic statements. He told legislators that the fight over Iraq was actually one against "Anglo-Saxon liberalism," an Assembly member told me.

But indignant reactions are now being heard. An editorial on Radio France Internationale noticed that the phrase "the Anglo-American forces," constantly used instead of "coalition forces," is borrowed straight from Vichy propaganda. In her own j'accuse for Le Figaro, Ms. Lepage said that to the errors of the media and the leaders, "one can add the pacifist demonstrations, which have nothing peaceful about them." She could "bear witness to the fact that these demonstrations are far from gatherings of real defenders of the rights of man or of peace. These are hordes orchestrated by the security services of Islamicist groups which . . . shout extremely violent slogans in which racial and anti-Semitic hatred is expressed without the least taboo."

Small wonder that the Interior Ministry itself says a mere spark could "turn anti-Americanism in the suburbs into uncontrolled violence." That observation comes too late for Noam Levy, a Jew beaten with an iron bar while at an antiwar demonstration. He said he was shocked by "the anti-Zionist slogans." (He should check with the Quai d'Orsay about the provenance of these feelings.) And it's too late for the families of Britons who died defending France in World War I, and whose tombs near Calais were vandalized. Among the graffiti on a cenotaph: "Dig up your rubbish, it's contaminating our soil."

"France," wrote Mr. Chirac to Queen Elizabeth with all the pomp--not to mention pomposity--at his command, "knows what it owes to the sacrifice and courage of British soldiers who came to help her recover her liberty in the fight against barbarity. . . . From the French people and from me personally, I offer you my deepest regrets." Too late. Mr. Chirac has himself refused to say which side he backs in the war. No wonder a third of the French tell pollsters that they want Saddam to win. Mr. Chirac is basking in 60% approval ratings, but he's paid for them dearly. Demonstrators in the street shout "Long live Chirac, stop the Jews!"





In Belgium, I've witnessed the defense and foreign ministers feed the beast of anti-Americanism, only to protest later that they want to defang it. At a debate last month at the University Libre de Bruxelles, I saw Messrs. Michel and Flahaut inflame a crowd with their comments. Belgians, said the former, are beginning to look on the U.S. as they once did the Soviet Union. "I am beginning to fear the U.S.," he added, his voice rising, to much applause from a 2,000-strong crowd. Not to be outdone, Mr. Flahaut promised to do all he could to kick Tony Blair out of the Socialist International.
By "debate," incidentally, I mean a representative of Republicans Abroad and me on one side, and on the other the two ministers, two pro-government university professors, a journalist who was supposed to act as moderator, and Iraq's ambassador to Belgium. The Iraqi was twice interrupted by the crowd with applause; I was accused of being a CIA agent. When one student stood up to complain that a representative of Saddam's regime was applauded while I was booed, the crowd shouted her down.

Can anyone wonder at the crowd's response, given such leadership? Mr. Flahaut called for bigger anti-U.S. demonstrations that weekend. The government needed them, he said. His government was doing more than just standing by. Just as in places like Castro's Cuba, parents at some Belgian schools received requests for their children to attend the demonstration. As for Mr. Michel, he personally quashed a revolt in his Mouvement Reformateur at a party meeting last month. One politician who was there told me the majority wanted the Belgian government to have a more nuanced policy and not to be in such opposition to the U.S. But Mr. Michel threatened, cajoled, and got his way. This is why there hasn't been a backbench revolt in Belgium and France, though this week a Belgian politician tried to redress the balance by delivering letters of support to the British and U.S. Embassies.

 

[coalesce]

Jealousy. So much of their motive behind the anti-American movement in France is jealousy.

Remember, without us, they'd all be protesting against America in between munches of bratwurst and swigs of Heineken (see Coco Chanel and Edith Piaf).

I remember when I was visiting relatives in Sicily 20 years ago in 1982, they showed my mother, brother and I a Nazi coin from 1944. They also then proceeded to launch into an anti-American diabtribe. Being only sixteen, and having no-where-near a command of Italian, I could not reply that without us, that would still be your currency. That would also hold true for France, Belgium, and the rest of the continent. And neither of them should ever, EVER preach to us about morals. Not after the way they rounded up the Jews and any other "undesirables" their Nazi masters told them to and ship them off to the camps. Or did they forget that part?

France cannot forget that they were once the center of the military, financial and cultural universes. But not any more. For better or for worse, America has supplanted them in at least two of the three, but to some degree the third, as well. America conquered the western world with bullets, dollars, Coca-Cola, blue jeans and Elvis. France is now a supporting player on the world stage, and it sticks in their national craw, just as it would if the roles were reversed, and America was no longer the dominant power in the world. But that's just how it is now, and they can't accept that.

Does this mean that we should just act with impunity? Certainly not. Does this mean that we should have stayed out of Iraq? No. Something had to be done. Diplomacy would never have worked. The basic premise of diplomacy is that both sides want a fair resolution, and both sides will work together to reach a common, equitable solution. Do you honestly believe that if we gave the inspectors more time that they would have found the SCUD missles that Iraq launched at Kuwait a couple of weeks ago? You do? Well, then, have I a bridge in Brooklyn that I'd like to sell you...


Michael

 

[Aardvark_DK]

Do you honestly believe that if we gave the inspectors more time that they would have found the SCUD missles that Iraq launched at Kuwait a couple of weeks ago?

Didn't they find out that it wasn't Scuds after all?

Incidentally, since you're busy giving the French a thorough psychoanalysis, how about doing the same to the rest of the world? We'd all like to know what we really think.

 

[coalesce]

If they were confirmed not to be SCUD missles, then I hadn't heard that, and would be mistaken for asserting that they are. I'll have to keep reading The Economist to see if they carried the story or not (can't quite bring myself to trust CNN or the New York Times, I'm afraid).

Insofar as psychoanalyzing the rest of the world, please!!! It would take DAYS just to do America!!! And who wants to read THAT!!!

Thanks for replying!

Michael

 

[iain]

Remember, without us, they'd all be protesting against America in between munches of bratwurst and swigs of Heineken (see Coco Chanel and Edith Piaf).
Michael

Heineken is Dutch and the Dutch don't take too kindly to being confused with the Germans.

 

[Smalso]

Jealousy. So much of their motive behind the anti-American movement in France is jealousy.

Also the perception, not only in France but also in many other countries, that the United States is a swaggering bully; and that if it can invade Iraq and force a regime change there, who's next? Resentment over U.S. action in Iraq is festering in Iraq and the rest of the Arab world, as well as in other countries. There are problems with this view of the U.S. that must be addressed in a realistic and constructive manner. The attitude, "if you don't like it, go to hell" serves no useful purpose. There are fences to be mended and time will tell how adept the current administration is at it.

 

[coalesce]

"Heineken is Dutch and the Dutch don't take too kindly to being confused with the Germans."

My apologies.

Michael

 

[iain]

"Heineken is Dutch and the Dutch don't take too kindly to being confused with the Germans."

My apologies.

Michael

On behalf of the Dutch people, your apology is graciously accepted

 

[coalesce]

If there's one thing I hate, it's when facts get in the way of a viewpoint.

Unfortunately, that's what I just suffered from.

Michael

 

[Megalodon]

Heineken is Dutch and the Dutch don't take too kindly to being confused with the Germans.

Having tasted Heineken, if I was dutch I would keep my mouth shut about its origins

 

[iain]

Having tasted Heineken, if I was dutch I would keep my mouth shut about its origins

The stuff they keep in Holland seems to be much nicer than they stuff they export (and stronger - about 5%).

 

[hammegk]

We'd all like to know what we really think.

Hmm, how do I tactfully point out that if your country has no army, with balls, to back up what it "thinks", and it has no strategic raw materials within it's purview, who cares?

 

[Jon_in_london]

Heineken is Dutch and the Dutch don't take too kindly to being confused with the Germans.

He must of meant Amstel instead!

 

[ceo_esq]

Heineken is Dutch and the Dutch don't take too kindly to being confused with the Germans.

Well put! However, Heineken would now be German if the Nazis had prevailed, so Coalesce's scenario is at least internally consistent.

 

[Victor Danilchenko]

coalesce

without [USA], [German coinage] would still be [Italian] currency.

Without US, they would be using rubles. Why don't you learn enough about history to know that US did not save Western Europe from Hitler? They very likely saved it from Stalin, but not from Hitler.

 

[Aardvark_DK]

Without US, they would be using rubles.

And without Europe the US wouldn't exist. Can we drop this whole "without whatever blah blah blah" crap, please?

 

[DanishDynamite]

And without Europe the US wouldn't exist. Can we drop this whole "without whatever blah blah blah" crap, please?

 

[Mike B.]

And without Europe the US wouldn't exist. Can we drop this whole "without whatever blah blah blah" crap, please?

Oh crap!!! He let the cat out of the bag!!!

 

[Aardvark_DK]

Oh crap!!! He let the cat out of the bag!!!

For a brief second my brain screwed up and I read "Oh cat! He let the crap out of the bag!" Very disconcerting.

 

[coalesce]

"And without Europe the US wouldn't exist. Can we drop this whole "without whatever blah blah blah" crap, please?"

By far, the best suggestion I've heard today!

Thanks!

Michael