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LIBERALS, FRENCH TOLD TO MOVE ON
“Give liberals credit,” editorialises The New Republic:
Rather than churlishly dismiss signs that the White House may have jump-started Middle Eastern democratization, most liberals have taken the responsible course and applauded recent developments in Lebanon, Egypt, and Iraq. “The Bush administration is entitled to claim a healthy share of the credit for many of these advances,” wrote the granddaddy of liberal opinion, The New York Times editorial page. Ted Kennedy seconded that sentiment on ABC’s “This Week”: “What’s taken place in a number of those countries is enormously constructive. It’s a reflection the president has been involved.” Hardly the peevish response many conservatives privately expected.”
Hey, some of us publicly expected an outpouring of peev. And lefty bloggers didn’t let us down, as TNR notes:
Take, for example, the preeminent liberal blog, Daily Kos, which spent thousands upon thousands of words chewing over Ukraine’s Orange Revolution. So far, it has featured only two short posts on Lebanon’s equally stirring Cedar Revolution—and both were notable mostly for their pessimism. This is unfortunate.
Screw him. Meanwhile, another anti-Bush holdout is coming around; as Andrew Richards writes, “The most interesting (and amusing) thing about this editorial is that it comes from the very left (think Guardian, The Age, Le Monde) LA Times, which had opposed the Iraq war … ”
President Jacques Chirac said to NATO leaders in late February that “France wants to contribute to stability” in Iraq. The contribution? Some $660,000 to a NATO fund for military and police training in Iraq and one French mid-level officer who’s being assigned to the training mission at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Not 1,000 officers. Not 100. Just one.
It was perfectly legitimate for France to oppose the war (which this editorial page did as well). But it is now time for both sides of this debate to recommit to the transatlantic alliance. Moreover, though European nations disagreed among themselves about the wisdom of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, they all share an interest — arguably a greater interest than even the United States — in promoting peace and stability across the Middle East. It’s churlish Gallic pique to begrudge the U.S. anything more than symbolic assistance in rebuilding Iraq into something more than a battleground for terrorists.
Then again, maybe it shouldn’t be that surprising that France is sulking. Paris has never been that enthusiastic about the transatlantic alliance, and it has long been an axiom of French policy to undermine NATO at every turn …
The Iraqi debate was a gift to Chirac, an opportunity to drive a wedge between Germany and Britain and between Europe and the United States. So it’s easy to understand why he and the rest of French officialdom is finding it so hard to move on.
Dot freakin’ Org.
(Oh gee whiz, I see there’s already one comment, I wonder who it is. Richard McEnroe. I am so surprised).
I read in the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (the only intellectual book I’ve read this year, I really haven’t found many relevant points expressed in Harry Potter, yet), it mentions how the NYT was fully supportive of Neville Chamberlains appeasement of Hitler (the 1938 version, not the current one) which resulted in the betrayal of Checkoslovakia. Peace in our time.
I don’t know but I do get tired of conservatives how to save liberals from their own follies.
Posted by wronwright on 2005 03 13 at 12:40 PM • permalinkI’ll credit liberals with needlessly prolonging the terrorism in Iraq.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2005 03 14 at 07:53 AM • permalink
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Ah, the old Cosby “Noah” routine… “I’m not buildin’ no Ark” *thunder* “You’n'me, God, right?”
Of course, in their next issue, The Nation will condemn TNR and the Garuniad as “sell-outs”.
And apparently, “most liberals” do not live in New York or LA, in my experience. You can still get a Frau Blucher moment by saying “Bush” to them.