Victory has many parents, but defeat is an orphan (from The Guardian):
France faces isolation as strains show in anti-war axisRead the rest and try not to chortle.Summit Chirac under pressure at home and abroad
Paul Webster in Paris, Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow and John Hooper in Berlin
Friday April 11, 2003
The GuardianJacques Chirac faced a backlash from his peace campaigning yesterday after warnings from his own party that France had gone too far in opposing Britain and the US, and now faced international isolation.
The French president, described by the newspaper Libération as the "king of peace without a crown", was criticised by leaders of his UMP party for three weeks of silence since the invasion.
Only yesterday, after the fall of Saddam Hussein, did Mr Chirac issue a comment. "France, like all democracies, rejoices," he said in a statement.
Has Chirac behaved less arrogantly and with more principle, his position in France might be more secure.
Even the French, it seems, have limits.
The French are incredible...
Nevermind liberation from a regime every bit as evil, perhaps in some ways, even more twisted and sick, albeit on a smaller scale, than Hitler or Stalin.
The French remember liberation, non?
Who were those guys?
Nevermind the extraordinary professionalism and care attempted in the exercise of U.S airpower to minimize civilian casualties.
Any other nation's armed forces operate in such manner? The Russians perhaps? Grozny Anyone? I think not.
I wish someone would post from the French editorial today brushing off liberation and demanding "where are the weapons of mass destruction?"
What's that you say? Weapons grade plutonium?
WW2 happened over 50 years ago, most of the people that participated are dead, and the remaining few don't have any say in day-to-day government operations in France or anywhere else. "That was then, this is now" is a very typical response, along with "Just because our forefathers were Neanderthals doesn't mean we have to be as well".
People don't forget. People can't remember because they weren't there, and no amount of writing, video, whatever can really communicate what things were like. Many of us have been in a nice, clean, democratic society too long to know what it's like otherwise.
History teaches only that we're doomed to repeat it, thanks to our chronic selfishness and short-sightedness. I'm sure most of us these days would be horrified at the idea of massive "peace" protests in Europe back in 1940--but you can be equally sure that they happened. "Sure, Hitler was a bad guy, but there's nobody like that alive today..."
Extremes. People, politics, governments inherently seek them out, bounce from one to the other. Trends that affect large groups of people only seem to reverse when they go too far. Hopefully the "do nothing and it'll all work out for the best" trend on the part of the Europeans will reverse itself soon.
Gee, Chirac could try saying he's sorry, he was wrong.
It's kind of hard to stay angry with someone who does that. As for the U.N., they have to redeem themselves in actions. Perhaps they could start by addressing the North Korean problem in earnst.
It would be helpful if more allies supported us, if only retroactively, to counter some of the absoloute hatred that's been coming our way since certain countries discovered Americans weren't going to get their heads handed to them in Baghdad.
Speaking of support from abroad, if you missed this incident, and I had, here's an article about the welcome a group of hockey players received when they played in Montreal.
A group of 11 and 12 year-olds raised funds for a much-anticipated road game, and were treated to the sights and sounds of American flag burning, cursing, and heckling--even by the referee. One cannot but admire the courage of adults who attack pee-wee hockey players in the name of politics?
reference: http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=31846