| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Harry Hope" |
| Date: |
13 Nov 2003 10:53:42 PM |
| Object: |
The French were right, Bush was wrong. |
From Reuters, 11/13/03:
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L13648672.htm
"Old Europe" feels vindicated on Iraq
By Mark John
PARIS, Nov 13 (Reuters) -
Was France right about Iraq all along?
U.S. President George W. Bush's new rush to hand power back to the
Iraqis was seen in Paris and other "old Europe" capitals on Thursday
as proof Washington cannot cope with the aftermath of a war they
advised it not to wage.
But while Bush's call for a faster handover of sovereignty goes some
way to meeting European demands, he should not expect them to jump in
with offers of troops or cash to help the United States out of a mess
they contend is of its own making.
"France has been right for months," said Paris-based analyst Francois
Heisbourg of its staunch opposition to the U.S.-led war and subsequent
demands that Iraqis be put back in charge of their own affairs as soon
as possible.
"But to think that 'old Europe' is going to jump into the same hole
that the Americans are trying to get out of -- that's fantasy land,"
said Heisbourg, who heads the French Foundation for Strategic Research
policy institute.
Since a U.S.-led coalition toppled Saddam Hussein from power in April,
events appear to have gone just how Paris, Berlin and other anti-war
nations derided by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as "old
Europe" predicted they would.
The existence in Iraq of weapons of mass destruction -- the threat
cited by Washington and London to legitimise the war -- is still
unproven.
The creation of a U.S.-controlled Governing Council with no timetable
to cede power smacked to Iraqis of U.S. "occupation".
A CIA report has warned that support on the streets for Iraqi
insurgents against U.S. rule is growing.
With U.S. combat deaths since the official end of major combat now
outnumbering those in the initial conflict, Iraq looks like the trap
that France always warned it would be.
All this as Bush gears up to run for re-election next year.
"The French Were Right", ran the headline of the influential
Washington weekly The National Journal this week.
__________________________________________________
Well, isn't that what we've been saying all along? Break out the
French Fries and French wine.
Harry
.
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