[Peace-discuss] Re: French and German criticism
Ricky Baldwin
baldwinricky at hotmail.com
Wed Feb 13 09:26:33 CST 2002
Friends,
Thanks for the article on French statements on US "unilateralism," which is
unfortunately not as new as the article seems to suggest. It is a kind of
hopeful sign that at least some of the European "allies" think Washington
goes too far sometimes against the "axis of evil," and I'm forwarding the
article to some other folks. Jack Straw, I would add, doesn't come off too
well in the article (nor should he - he's a vicious rightwing bastard), but
even he has criticized US treatment of the non-prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
And Straw was the sponsor of a bill in the British Parliament in 1999
expanding the definition of "terrorist" to include "anyone who, by word or
deed, can be seen to pose a threat to any person or their property," or
words to that effect (Greenpeace, for example, or a corporate whistleblower,
mayhap?). If you've gone too far for Jack Straw, you've really accomplished
something.
But, lest we forget, France and Germany are not likely to do much more than
snipe, and in this Jack Straw is quite right. Their remarks are basicaly
rhetoric aimed at domestic populations, probably theirs more than ours, as
Euuropeans citizens are increasingly horrified by what the US is doing in
the wake of the Sept. 11 opportunity.
Actually, that's not right. Both France and Germany are doing a lot more.
They are helping. And not only in Afghanistan. The German navy and French
airforce have been running increasing surveillance for the US out of
Djibouti, near Somalia, presumably to aid whatever new "humanitarian"
missions Washington is planning for that beleaguered country. (The US has
been meeting with Ethiopian-backed rebels in Somalian provinces not
controlled by the government in Mogadishu, Ethiopia has been invading
Somalia regularly, and rebel leaders have been on CNN comparing Somalia to
Afghanistan as a "haven for terrorists" that requires US action. Deputy
Defense Sec. Paul Wolfowitz has also told the New York Times that Somalia is
a likely next target. The stated problem the US has with the government in
Mogadishu, by the way, is that it is "weak" and unable to handle the alleged
terrorists there, partly due to US and Ethiopian undermining.)
France did, of course, give the US some trouble during the Gulf War, but
nothing the US couldn't get around. There are other airbases. But in the
long run, "absolute solidarity" is a lot more telling than just "sympathy"
after Sept. 11. Notice, the European "allies" frame their criticism in
terms of the US going too far, not being fundamentally out of line or
hypocritical. A little stronger push for the US to stop its own
international terrorist training, illegal bombings and notoriuous support
for the most murderous government thugs on the planet would be more useful.
That's what I think.
-Ricky
>From: peace-discuss-request at lists.cu.groogroo.com
>Reply-To: peace-discuss at lists.cu.groogroo.com
>To: peace-discuss at lists.cu.groogroo.com
>Subject: Peace-discuss digest, Vol 1 #126 - 2 msgs
>Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 06:29:18 -0600 (CST)
>
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>Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Fwd: France urges US to ease stance on terrorism (Al Kagan)
> 2. AWARE WEBSITE (Michael Walcher)
>
>--__--__--
>
>Message: 1
>Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 13:52:22 -0600
>To: Peace-discuss at lists.groogroo.com
>From: Al Kagan <akagan at uiuc.edu>
>Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: France urges US to ease stance on terrorism
>
> >Delivered-To: akagan at alexia.lis.uiuc.edu
> >Delivered-To: SF-TALK at listproc.prairienet.org
> >Delivered-To: SF-TALK at prairienet.org
> >Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2002 23:06:26 -0600
> >From: Mike Lehman <rebelmike at earthlink.net>
> >X-Accept-Language: en
> >To: Socialist Forum <SF-TALK at prairienet.org>
> >Subject: France urges US to ease stance on terrorism
> >Sender: owner-sf-talk at prairienet.org
> >Status:
> >
> >Belden asked that I forward this to the list:
> >
> >France urges US to ease stance on terrorism
> >By Victor Mallet in Paris
> >Published: February 8 2002 20:32 | Last Updated: February 9 2002 01:35
> >
> >Lionel Jospin, the French prime minister, on Friday bluntly urged the US
> >not to reduce all foreign policy issues to the fight against terrorism
> >and called on Washington to resist unilateralism. Mr Jospin's comments,
> >in a deliberate digression during a speech on money-laundering, reflect
> >European anxiety about the direction of President George W. Bush's
> >foreign policy following his condemnation of Iraq, Iran and North Korea
> >as the "axis of evil". Mr Jospin is the first European prime minister to
> >make such an outspoken attack, although cabinet ministers from Germany,
> >Spain and France have already criticised Mr Bush's remarks in his State
> >of the Union address last week..
> >
> >Echoing Mr Jospin's remarks, Chris Patten, the European Union's external
> >affairs commissioner, warns Washington in an interview on Saturday with
> >Britain's Guardian newspaper against going into "unilateralist
> >overdrive" and taking "an absolutist and simplistic" stance towards the
> >rest of the world. Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary, suggested
> >the speech was political rhetoric for a domestic US audience. On
> >Wednesday, Hubert Vedrine, the French foreign minister, accused the US
> >of being "simplistic" in looking at all the world's problems through the
> >prism of the anti-terrorism campaign. "It's absurd," he said.
> >
> >Mr Jospin was more diplomatic on Friday, recalling France's "absolute
> >solidarity" with the US after the September 11 attacks. But he implied
> >that the US did not understand the lessons to be learnt from what had
> >happened, and would be wrong to rely purely on military might to stamp
> >out potential terrorist threats. "The problems of the world cannot be
> >reduced simply to the struggle against terrorism, however vital that
> >struggle may be," Mr Jospin said. "Nor can such problems be solved by
> >overwhelming military power."
> >
> >He contrasted Mr Bush's go-it-alone approach on arms negotiations,
> >environmental protection and development aid with what he called
> >Europe's vision of "a more balanced international community, and a world
> >that is safer and more just". Mr Jospin added: "We want the United
> >States not to yield to the strong temptation of unilateralism."
> >
> >Criticising the US is a traditional sport for French politicians, and
> >the realisation that France's armed forces had little to offer the US
> >during the Afghan war has aggravated French sensitivities over
> >Washington's global military dominance. France's open hostility towards
> >US policy, however, is a marked change from its unequivocal support in
> >the immediate aftermath of September 11.
> >
> >European policymakers are also concerned about Mr Bush's views on Iran
> >and on the Arab-Israeli conflict, in which the US has taken an
> >increasingly public pro-Israeli line. Mr Vedrine on Friday again
> >criticised US support for the decision by Ariel Sharon, the Israeli
> >prime minister, to marginalise Yassir Arafat and the Palestinian
> >Authority, a tactic he said was leading to "a strategic impasse" in the
> >Middle East. Earlier in the week Mr Vedrine told French radio that if
> >Europeans did not always agree with US policy they should say so openly.
> >"The Europeans today do not agree with the White House approach on the
> >Middle East, and believe it is a mistake to support Ariel Sharon's
> >policy of pure repression," he said.
>
>--
>
>
>Al Kagan
>African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
>Africana Unit, Room 328
>University of Illinois Library
>1408 W. Gregory Drive
>Urbana, IL 61801, USA
>
>tel. 217-333-6519
>fax. 217-333-2214
>e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu
>
>--__--__--
>
>Message: 2
>Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 00:04:50 -0800 (PST)
>From: Michael Walcher <solaraycer at yahoo.com>
>To: Discuss AWAREPeace-Discuss <peace-discuss at lists.groogroo.com>
>Subject: [Peace-discuss] AWARE WEBSITE
>
>--0-632087809-1013587490=:91104
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
>
>I would really like to improve the website , http://www.anti-war.net
>
> and i would like to discuss with you the "missing pieces"
>
> A WEBSITE is merely a compilation of many of the tools in our daily
>lives , now strung together with a SCIENTIFIC INTERFACE
>
>aka Computer !!
>
>therefore if you could at sometime take a look through the website and help
>me fill in the pieces , information regarding your group or any info you
>would like to see , or moved around etc. etc any ideas will be fine, as
>this will really help me get inspired to update the site.
>
>just the basic info regarding your group , a synapsis would be great, of
>what you are currently doing , when you meet, all relevant inforomation ,
>and then i will include it in the site.
>
> Also, at some point in the near future i am thinking of adding a way
>of collecting money online , I recently found several different ways that
>other organization are collecting money and will post them when i find them
>again.
>
>the time is now,
>
>Michael Walcher
>
>please send ideas for the site !
>
>
>
>
>
>---------------------------------
>Do You Yahoo!?
>Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo! Greetings!
>--0-632087809-1013587490=:91104
>Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
>
><P>I would really like to improve the website , <A
>href="http://www.anti-war.net">http://www.anti-war.net</A></P>
><P> and i would like to discuss with you the "missing pieces" </P>
><P> A WEBSITE is merely a compilation of many of the
>tools in our daily lives , now strung together with a SCIENTIFIC
>INTERFACE</P>
><P>aka Computer !!</P>
><P>therefore if you could at sometime take a look through the website and
>help me fill in the pieces , information regarding your group or any info
>you would like to see , or moved around etc. etc any ideas will be fine, as
>this will really help me get inspired to update the site.</P>
><P>just the basic info regarding your group , a synapsis would be great, of
>what you are currently doing , when you meet, all relevant inforomation ,
>and then i will include it in the site.</P>
><P> Also, at some point in the near future i am
>thinking of adding a way of collecting money online , I recently found
>several different ways that other organization are collecting money and
>will post them when i find them again.</P>
><P>the time is now,</P>
><P>Michael Walcher </P>
><P>please send ideas for the site ! </P>
><P> </P><p><br><hr size=1><b>Do You
>Yahoo!?</b><br>
>Send FREE Valentine eCards with <a
>href="http://rd.yahoo.com/mail_us/tag/?http://greetings.yahoo.com">Yahoo!
>Greetings!</a>
>--0-632087809-1013587490=:91104--
>
>
>--__--__--
>
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