--- Jean-Marc Chaton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > * [EMAIL PROTECTED] [Mon, 31/03/2003 at 21:44 -0500] > > It is true that the indefensible position > > of the French (no war ever no matter what) made > things more difficult. > > It was not the position of France. It was 'no war as > long as progresses > were made' > > -- > Jean-Marc
Which explains why France rejected Britain's compromise proposal _before Iraq did_. Note that - France was more eager to reject the use of force against Iraq than Iraq itself. France's position seems very much to have been no war under any circumstances. Since France itself admitted that Iraq was in breach of 1441 - which it voted for, and which called for serious consequences if Iraq breached the resolution - what would you have us believe? Whether this was motivated by malice against the United States, bribes by Saddam, or a catastrophic misunderstanding of international politics remains to be seen. I rather imagine that Ba'ath party archives will be illuminating, however. Note, for example, two simple actions by France: 1. They publicly threatened the Eastern European candidate countries with blackballing from EU membership for supporting the US and 2. It is now revealed that they did the same to Turkey, which was one of the major reasons we did not get Turkish support, something which will undoubtedly cost the lives of dozens of Americans and thousands of Iraqis. What the French government, in its quest to attack the United States in this affair, didn't realize is that American politics are not like French politics. What the people think in the United States has a real influence on foreign policy. And the people, right now, are pissed at France. That's not going to go away. An entire generation of politically active Americans who came of age during this crisis are going to think of France as an enemy of the United States. That is damage that may never be healed. Gautam __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - File online, calculators, forms, and more http://platinum.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
