french wine boycott

[eskinnyc]

Make no mistake about it, the French did attack the USA this week. Not militarily, they can't do that (its been French policy to freeload off of American security for decades) but diplomatically. They're so interested in sticking a thumb in the eye of us "simplistic Americans" they'd take the whole world down with them.

The last time a murderous tyrant rearmed in defiance of treaty obligations and international resolutions was when Hitler remilitarized the Rhineland in the early 1930s. You'd think the French of all people would recognize the danger here (or maybe not, the capitulationist Vichy regime was more popular domestically than the Nazis ever were in Germany). Then, as now, the price of inaction far outweighs the price of action. If you don't believe me pay a visit to Dresden. Or Auschwitz. Or Normandy.

But the French, in their wisdom, are so motivated by reflexive anti-Americanism they would condemn 22 million Iraqis to enslavement in a nightmarish Baathist dictatorship. And they would allow Saddam Hussein to develop the world's worst weapons. Have you asked yourself why hasn't Saddam taken the opposite route? Why not disarm, get the sanctions ended and the oil flowing, and build all the gold palaces he pleases? His actions make clear the extreme lengths he'll go to to get these weapons -- and he's used them in the past. By taking action now we prevent millions of deaths of his target du jour, be it Kurds, Turks, Iranians, Israelis, Kuwaitis, or even Americans (Saddam has a lot of enemies).

But no, the French, who voted for UNSC res 1441, have no intention of enforcing it, and are setting themselves up to tell the world "I told you so" should the slightest thing go wrong. The irony here is I, as most Americans, would like to see the UN (an American-created institution) thrive and prosper. But after a few months, it will be clear the UN burns in the same hell as the League of Nations. Thank the French.