These guys need to chill. Nothing good can come from talking about dissolving NATO, calling the head of a democratic Germany "discredited," and threatening to pull out of the UN. The hubris exposed here by acting like he knows what is best for Germany and discussing NATO as if it were a rubber stamp for US policies and not a collection of sovreign nations joined in a defensive alliance is mind-boggling. No wonder we're losing ground with the rest of the world. _________________________ Pentagon adviser: France 'no longer ally' By Martin Walker UPI Chief International Correspondent From the International Desk Published 2/4/2003 8:43 PM WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- France is no longer an ally of the United States and the NATO alliance "must develop a strategy to contain our erstwhile ally or we will not be talking about a NATO alliance" the head of the Pentagon's top advisory board said in Washington Tuesday. Richard Perle, a former assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration and now chairman of the Pentagon's Policy Advisory Board, condemned French and German policy on Iraq in the strongest terms at a public seminar organized by a New York-based PR firm and attended by Iraqi exiles and American Middle East and security officials. But while dismissing Germany's refusal to support military action against Iraq as an aberration by "a discredited chancellor," Perle warned that France's attitude was both more dangerous and more serious. "France is no longer the ally it once was," Perle said. And he went on to accuse French President Jacques Chirac of believing "deep in his soul that Saddam Hussein is preferable to any likely successor." French leaders have insisted the country will oppose any military action against Iraq without a second resolution by the United Nations Security Council, where it holds one of five crucial veto powers. Last November France did vote for Resolution 1441, which promised "serious consequences" if Iraq did not cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors verifying that Iraq has indeed dismantled its programs for chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. "I have long thought that there were forces in France intent on reducing the American role in the world. That is more troubling than the stance of a German chancellor, who has been largely rejected by his own people," Perle said, referring to the sharp electoral defeat suffered by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's party in state elections Sunday. Although he is not an official of the Bush administration, Perle's position as the Pentagon's senior civilian adviser gives his harsh remarks a quasi-official character and reflects the growing frustration in the White House and Pentagon with the French and German reluctance to support their U.S. and British allies. "Very considerable damage has already been done to the Atlantic community, including NATO, by Germany and France," Perle said. "But in the German case, the behavior of the Chancellor is idiosyncratic. He tried again to incite pacifism, and this time failed in Sunday's elections in Hesse and Lower Saxony. His capacity to do damage is now constrained. Chancellor Schroeder is now in a box, and the Germans will recover their equilibrium." Perle went on to question whether the United States should ever again seek the endorsement of the U.N. Security Council on a major issue of policy, stressing that "Iraq is going to be liberated, by the United States and whoever wants to join us, whether we get the approbation of the U.N. or any other institution." "It is now reasonable to ask whether the United States should now or on any other occasion subordinate vital national interests to a show of hands by nations who do not share our interests," he added.
Do you really think France has been an ally? They are an ally in name only the way Phil Gramm was a Democrat
It's been a disastrous month for France and Germany. What's telling is - following the French Foreign Minister's comments at the U.N., Blix's harsh assessment of Iraqi compliance, Rumsfeld's "old Europe" comment and the satirical "apology" for labeling them an "Axis of Weasels", the Gang of Eight letter (since joined by several other European countries), Schroeder's embarrassing electoral fiasco, and now Powell's damning presentation to the Security Council - how little influence and credibility France and Germany have left over the political structure in the new European dynamic. Also interesting is how the former Soviet bloc states, with the exception of reunified Germany, have a much more favorable opinion of U.S. policies than those two historical allies
I just went to lunch and Ruben, from the Clinton administration, give his take on this...he basically said that given the evidence presented today, he didn't know how the French and Germans could ask for more inspections with a straight face. When you have recorded conversations of Iraqi officials evading inspections, what more do you need? And why do you think more inspections would be fruitful? And as he went on to say...Iraq didn't help their case by coming out and calling the US liars. He said, Germany and France don't even take that view...they just want more inspections...now they're left out in the uncomfortable middle. And given the responses of the Spanish and Chilean delegates, I'd say they'll be awfully lonely in their positions pretty soon. I'm still convinced Russia will side with the US on this one.
Hmm, oh yeah, when they helped us win our independence from Great Britain. Sure it was a long time ago and we saved their butts in two World Wars, but if it wasn't for them, we might not even exist today, you can't forget about that. The Statue of Liberty is pretty nice too. This isn't about the Bush administration either, it's about Robert Perle and his remarks that sound more like those of an anonymous poster on a message board than those of a Pentagon official.
the france of the late 1700's is nowhere near the France of today...their own revolution turned on itself...
To split a couple of hairs, it's Richard Perle and he's not a Pentagon official. He also has a strong reputation for saying what he thinks without clouding it in a bunch of diplo-jargon. His candor is refreshing, even if some of his ideas are quite outlandish.
France makes great p*rn, but they primarily use girls from former eastern bloc countries like the czech republic. Conspiracy? I think so!
Well, there you have it, rimrocker. this guy clearly expresses the views of most Americans, if we take our little BBS as any sort of cross-section. No need to "chill," apparently. If anything, people want even more hostile rhetoric to spew from our leaders. Yippy-ki-aayy, or what have you.
come on Bob...you're smarter than that....the evidence has been presented...the guys are evading inspections...and yet these countries still say, "more inspections are necessary." they seem to be riding anti-american bias as much as anything else in this decision. what will it take? do we have to actually find a nuclear missile before these guys will seek to enforce their own orders? and how likely is it you're going to find that when people are actively seeking to hide it over a rather large geographical area? it's done...and the french are beginning to look a little silly. as Ruben said on CNN this afternoon, I don't know how they can say, "more inspections" with a straight face in light of this evidence. unless of course you believe it's all a big fabrication by the united states.
No one can be that dumb to say and truly believe what you said. Who did we fight for our independence? Should we be cautious of the Brits b/c we had to fight them to gain independence? With that frame of mind, then we should: 1) We should resume our bombing of Germany, that Hitler guy is rumored to never have died 2) Japan needs to be leveled 3) Russia... be careful, they may launch a missile at us at any moment 4) Not fight the Taliban... we helped save their asses And the list goes on. Times change as do the people and countries we consider our allies. What France did has nothing to do with the way we view them today, nor do any of the above listed items along with many many many others have any influence what so ever on what we do today.
