After criticizing French foreign policy last week, it is only fair to provide balance by drawing attention to French public figures who have been willing to speak out against the self-absorbed pensée unique and in defense of U.S. policy. Winds of Change has in the past mentioned a few of France's "anti-anti-Americans". Below is an article written last year before the war by a lesser known member of this group. Can you guess who it is? (without cheating)
UPDATE: All guesses so far have been wrong. ANSWER TO BE POSTED AT MIDNITE E.S.T. - YOU ARE GUARANTEED TO BE SURPRISED!
AND THE ANSWER IS: The article was published in the French daily Le Figaro on February 3, 2003 in support of the U.S. position in the runup to the war in Iraq (copy here). It was written by the Mayor of Briac (Brittany), former French environment minister and one-time presidential candidate Brice Lalonde. Mr. Lalonde is best known in the United States as John Kerry's first cousin."Abominable Yankee Totalitarianism! "Appearances can be deceiving. The Americans are pretending to have respect for democracy. In reality, they strut around armed to the hilt and spend their time shooting up passers-by and Indians. No need for inspectors to verify that. George Bush won the elections only because of oil money and electronic voting booths. Saddam Hussein did not use such practices. He's not a hypocrite, but a self-avowed conscientious dictator. He doesn't think twice about gassing his own people to curtail their suffering. George Bush would never have such courage. We all know, the United States is a lousy place to live. The prisons are overflowing with the poor, all sentenced to die in the electric chair. Blacks are persecuted. Garbage cans are overflowing with wasted resources. In contrast, Baghdad protects its Kurdish minorities against the Arab bands of El Answar. Iraqis lead a frugal, healthy life, and without contributing to the greenhouse effect. Saddam is generous. He selflessly rewards the families of martyrs who blow up women and children in Israel."
"French leaders speak the truth, their words are like honey: "Nothing justifies war." All of Europe approves. Great Britain, taking orders from America, is not really part of Europe, neither is Spain or Italy or Portugal or Denmark, or the Czech Republic, or Poland or Hungary. These insignificant countries have been unmasked. Their media theatrics, orchestrated by Washington, are worthy of our permanent disdain. While France is more popular than ever, above all in the Arab world. We must naturally exclude the leaders of Egypt, Syria, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and several other countries all of which have been bought off. In Libya, that champion of human rights, and in the Sudan, benefactor of the peoples of the Nile, it's a veritable triumph."The truth must be revealed. If Americans gave the lives of their soldiers to save Europe from Nazism, even though France didn't need them having accommodated itself to the situation, it was really only to better establish their domination over the world. If they fought against communism, which did have its good points, it was to eliminate any rival from the surface of the planet. And, in any case, that's ancient history. What, do we have to spend all of our time thanking them?
"Ever since, they have felt entitled to meddle in everything. After Yugoslavia, where they had no wounded, proof of their duplicity, they had the gall to go and bomb the Afghan people, who weren't really that unhappy under the Taliban. The French know this all to well since their leaders, in their wisdom, hosted the Taliban at the Foreign Ministry while excluding that troublemaking Massoud. The Americans want to prevent other peoples form having their little plutonium factories and their vials of anthrax. For the sake of world security. But nobody granted them such a mission. We could ask the European Union of the Arab League to do it instead of them. Why should Americans have the right to spend more on their military than all the other countries together? What incredible selfishness!
"The leaders of France practice realpolitik. That's safer. And it allows them to have a lot more friends, above all the ironfisted leaders who oppose the mercantilist nations. Paris will be hosting the good President Mugabe. London takes offense, claiming that he represses his opponents and assassinates white farmers. It's nothing but propaganda. What do the English know about Africa?
"It's like the Ivory Coast: It's better to honor the rebels than the elected authorities. And if things are going badly in Abidjan, to the point where the French are asked not to evacuate the country, but to go home, it's because the Americans are stirring up trouble down under, just to make difficulties for France. How Machiavellian!
"The Americans claim to be fighting a war against terrorism. We wouldn't want that to be used as an argument for the next hundred years as cover for their plans. Okay, there was September 11. They were upset. But let's not have a fit about it. Everyone has their bad days.
"Terrorism is not a threat if we don't go and get into the beards of those imams. As for France, it is perfectly right to let obscure foundations finance its mosques and Wahhabi clerics come and preach in them. It tolerates extremists on its soil training in combat, allows young girls to be burned alive, and factories to get blown up by accident. That's the tradeoff that its experienced leaders have made with the disciples of Bin Laden. Like that, the French will have peace, or will get hit only by mistake. Yes, indeed, praise be the heavens! For, undoubtedly, history will be on the side of the peaceful descendants of Saladin, humanists overflowing with arms, assassins and oil, rather than those descendants of Washington, Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, the ignominious forebears of Yankee totalitarianism."
Gabriel:
O that's too easy! It's Finkelkraut.:) Even in translation you can pick up that typical Gallic sardonic attitude when it punctures the recieved wisdom.
xavier
Finkielkraut: Wrong!
Um... that one chick? Y'know, what'shername.
Cool editorial, though, I may just have to copy it and save it.
No idea. The translation has echoes of Revel's style in it, but he's usually the straight ahead type rather than a satirist.
Or maybe it's just a French style. One more reason to hope that the French begin to nurture a home grown neoconservative movement - it's great to fight beside talent like this, and the French "anti-idiotarians" we cite definitely have talent by the tonne.
This is actually quite a funny article, although it took me a few readings to get how well the author uses indirection. I can imagine an appeasenik nodding in agreement at everything in the first paragraph, including Saddam "doesn't think twice about gassing his own people to curtail their suffering." Still agreeing that "Americans gave the lives of their soldiers to save Europe from Nazism even though France didn't need them having accomodated itself to the situation." Emphatically agreeing that "the French will have peace or will get hit only by mistake."
Who might the author be? Not a Red nor a Brown nor a Green. He recognizes the similarity of the Islamist fascists to the Nazis and Communists before them, and the similarity of the French non-reponse. A supporter of the Bush Doctrine. But since his identity will be a surprise, I will guess Bertrand Cantat.
It's obviously Asterix!
No, no, no!! Not Asterix!! Obviously Vitalstatistix!!
A.L. who learned French reading Asterix and Lucky Luke in the back of the classroom...
I started to guess Meyssan (sp?), but they acknowledge 9/11 happened. So I'll go with Baudrillard.
Gabriel:
OK I'm wrong about Finkelkraut. I thought it was his satire. It's not Houlbouckx?
You'll have to give us the answer since we're guessing wrongly :)
xavier
This is more like Cacaphonix. At least he could teach Vikings the meaning of fear. Come to think of it, I bet it would work for jihadis too... maybe the French could be useful after all.
Since everyone else to date is wrong, I am not ashamed to predict that it is not a politician, nor a philosopher.
I will guess the filmmaker, Marcel Ophuls.
It is past midnight Estonian Standard Time. It is even past midnight Eastern Standard Time.
So let me guess: this was a spoof of the French made up by Bush.
The website E-nough linked to another fine article by Brice Lalonde on January 29, 2004:
An excerpt from "Dodging Will Not Save Us"
"It is good form to make fun of George Bush. The axis of evil seems simplistic... The objective of the Islamists is to destroy us. Violence will become daily. Between fascism and resistance everyone will have to take sides. That is the reason why we should act first, help the democrats of the Muslim world... not give up anything to Islamist fascism. When an enemy declares war on us, mobilization is the only priority."
I think I will make this article my signature...
Fantastic.
One question..
How do I mass forward this to the liberals?
As of today, the latest pro-Islamist terror message sent thru the Net calls for dedicated attacks against CANADA proper - Canada is ranked #5 of six major American allies, one ahead of the dead-last Italians! Dare les Francaises tolerate destructive attacks by [pro-Kerry!?] Radical Islam on hardworking Quebecois??? Hmmmmm - JAPAN, CLOSE-TO-GIBRALTAR SPAIN, the PHILIPPPINES,....LOWER AMERICAS-SW USA, NOW CANADA - so far it looks like a list of many, iff not soon to be all, of the potential, Commie "near abroad" [GLOBAL] REGIONAL LIMITED WAR BATTLEFIELDS the AIRBORNE milfors of Communist-controlled, Communism-centric FASCIST RUSSIA, and still-Communist China, would want to strategically and militarily confront Bush-led, alleged "imperialist", AMERICA in order to enhance and empower US destructive, pro-anti sovereign, Clinton-led national disenfrangement/disenfranchisement, for SOCIALISM and SOCIALIST OWG, aka [ASIAN]COMMUNIST-RULED AMERICA AND COMMUNIST WORLD ORDER! *China's reported new "BATTLE ZONE/WAR ZONE/LOCAL ZONE" warfighting concept, while emphasizing AIR ASSAULT or AIR-BASED "FIRST-STRIKE" MILOPS, to include tactical nuclear arty, prioritizes China-centric national, regional and geopolitical POLITICAL VICTORY against superior American-Western milfors - read, Clintons and CLinton Left, FROM WITHIN!? Post-Florida 2000, ANTI-SOVEREIGNTY, ie USA UNDER UN AND UNOWG, ISN'T "TREASON", RIGHT, and since according to the US Ninth COurt the USA is an "illegal" and "unconstitutional" nation-state, any and all COMMIE AIRBORNE, SAPPER-COMMANDOS, and Islamic Terror have legitimate/due/proper cause to be in NORAM/CONUS, or attack NORAM-CONUS, WITHOUT FEAR OF INTERNATIONALLY "ILLEGAL" US ARMED RESPONSE, FROM ANY AND ALL ALSO "ILLEGAL" CONUS-BASED US MILFORS!