http://www.austin360.com/auto_docs/epaper/editions/thursday/life_entertainment_1.html > > Julia
But, Julia, this article was absurd. The criticism of France isn't because they disagree with us. The Russians disagree with us - no one is going around making Russian jokes. The criticism is because France's behavior is so astonishingly cynical and hypocritical. France has been protected by the United States for almost a century now. The moment it no longer needs that immediate protection - the overriding and _publicly stated_ goal of French policy becomes to weaken the United States. That's not how your friends act. Meanwhile, Villepin claims that his goal is to protect American soldiers. That's absurd. All of the delaying that he and his cohorts have forced will undoubtedly kill more American soldiers, and to the extent that he cares, he's probably happy, because the more difficult the war is for us, the further we slip in global terms. The France-bashing isn't a reaction to opposition, it's a reaction to cynicism, hypocrisy, and betrayal. France is acting like our enemy while pretending to be our friend - that's why people are upset. Many of my friends who strongly oppose the war _loathe_ France, and will quite openly say that, because, even though they agree with France's position, its tactics and language have been those of enemies, not allies. They don't like America's enemies, even if they agree with their current position, and they really don't like enemies who pretend to be friends. A book in France claiming that 9/11 was a US government plot was the #1 bestseller for months - can you imagine the reaction if the #1 NYTimes bestseller in the US was something that vile? We ignore things like that at our peril. One quick example of how absurd that article is - he writes that one difference between us and the French is that we think late night comedians should shape public opinion. That's just dumb, and mainly shows how low the author's opinion of the American public is. The point of Stephanopoulos's question was that Jay Leno is _reflecting_ public opinion, and in the US, unlike France, public opinion has a real and immediate impact on foreign policy. The public is _pissed_. France hasn't taken that into its calculations. The French leadership is going around saying that there won't be any consequences to their actions. They are wrong, I think, but it will be too late before they figure that out. Gautam __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Web Hosting - establish your business online http://webhosting.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
