A European swing by two of US President George W. Bush's top aides, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, has generated a surge of hope that the badly hurt transatlantic relationship can be fixed.That's for the European audience. Here's the truth...
Rice and Rumsfeld, who two years ago were the fiercest critics of France and Germany for leading opposition to the Iraq war, sang songs of reconciliation, partnership and mutual interest to pave the way for Bush's big trip to Europe.
The sweet words have come as a relief to many European policymakers, worried about the damage inflicted on US-European relations by the hard-nosed unilateralism of Bush's first term.
Bush can at least expect guarded smiles and firm handshakes, rather than aloofness and score-settling, in his February 21-24 tour.
"Gone is the mocking of Old Europe, the poisonous strategy of divide and rule and the mantra attributed to none other than Ms Rice that the US should 'forgive Russia, ignore Germany and punish France'," the Financial Times said.We can afford to play nice with these guys now...the Iraqi elections proved that we made the right decision. How do I know? Check out the next paragraph:
The French leftwing daily Liberation said Bush "has given top priority to repairing the diplomatic crockery that he smashed like an elephant in his first term".The French leftwing (redundant) wouldn't know a THING about liberation if it weren't for the Americans doing the heavy lifting. (Channeling Mark for a second there...sorry...) If the Frenchies are claiming a victory of any sort, it's really a win for the US. Like most liberals, the French engage in projection. It wasn't the US who destroyed the relationship...it was France.
Mark's Remarks
Firstly, I take offense to the "channellnig Mark" reference. Not so much for that statement as Matt stole my material...:) Anyway, ever since WWII, France has had an inferiority complex and has had to be simply a pest to have any relevance in World Events. I mean, they couldn't handle Indochina (Dienbienphu, anyone?), and they can't handle the changing dynamics of the world today.
They were wrong, as were many in America, on the ideas of containment. They have no idea about the war on Terror. They are still holding true to Chamberlain politics: "take what you want, just don't bomb us." They don't realize that when the terrorists are done with us (they won't be, because we will beat them first), they will come after France. You see, while the United States believes it has a unique purpose in service to humanity, France just believes it is unique and set apart because it is France. The arrogance of this nation is contemptible, considering their history of getting beaten, getting beaten again, etc. Then, when the fighting is all done, they come in and want to claim territory and profit. I don't think so.
Germany and France, with their lies and underhanded dealings with Saddam and appeasement to the likes of al Queda, dealt the severing blows to the relationship with the United States. Even if they did not want to participate in the war on terror, they did not need to spread the propaganda of "occupation and domination" by the US that they did. The least they could have done was simply give us some benign silence. But no, they had to prove they still can make noise. All simply hot air.
That being said, does this mean I don't care about the French or German people? Hardly. I believe they are being led by terrible leaders, but I hope that the French people as a whole and the Germans understand what we are doing. I hope and pray for the safety of France and Germany from terror, and I hope and pray for their citizens. Unlike the French government, I remember aid. I remember it was the Frenchman LaFayette who helped train our army, along with a German drill instructor (can't recall his name at the moment, sorry..was it von Stueben?). I remember that well, and honor them for their help. And I honor the brave French resistance fighters who would not fall to appeasement.
All this having been stated, I hope for a thawing of relations. The world is better for closer relations, and that is something I hope for. However, they need to be honest and beneficial relations, not the relations of deceit we have been experiencing for the last 30 years by France.
