QandO: Bite me, Frog-boy

June 28, 2004

Bite me, Frog-boy
Posted by Dale Franks

Jacques Chirac, who apparently fancies himself the Emperor of Europe, told the NATO summit attendees that the US has no business expressing an opinion about European affairs.

Stung by Mr Bush's call for the EU to give Turkey a firm date for accession, Mr Chirac responded: "He not only went too far but he has gone into a domain which is not his own.
"He has nothing to say on this subject. It is as if I were to tell the United States how it should conduct its relations with Mexico."

Or...Iraq.

Mr Chirac was irritated by Mr Bush's comments a day earlier during a meeting with Turkish leaders.
Hailing Turkey as an example of "how to be a Muslim country and at the same time a country which embraces democracy and rule of law and freedom", Mr Bush said: "I believe you ought to be given a date by the EU for your eventual acceptance into the EU."

Mr. Chirac is awfully froggy (no pun intended) for the leader of a country that doesn't even participate in NATO's military organization. Maybe we should restrict France's participation in NATO's political cousels to the same observer status they have in the military alliance.

One also notes that, during the whole wretched collapse of Yugoslavia, culminating in the atrocities in Kosovo, the French, among others, were begging for US help. The French spent years dithering over that mess and accomplished...well, what France usually accomplishes, which is nothing.

Mr. Chirac's real fear, of course, is that as the EU enlarges France will be increasingly relegated to the second-rate status, even among European countries, that it deserves.

What is especially irksome about Chirac mouthing off at a NATO meeting is that the French have spent the last 50 years on the rear of NATO, confident that if the Russians came roaring across the Elbe, they would have the benefit of the American conventional and nuclear umbrella to protect their country, without their having to go through the tedious business of cooperating with the rest of NATO in any meaningful way.

It's almost enough to make one wish the Germans still had a real army.

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Comments

Have you ever been to Turkey? It is a (very charming) shithole. If I were European, I wouldn't want the Turks in, either.

It's quite simple: Bush is trading US support for Turkish accesssion to the EU for Turkish support for Iraq policy. This has nothing to do with EU interests and the EU is thus rightly suspicious.

Posted by: do at June 29, 2004 12:24 AM

Really? I assume their admission into NATO years ago was also a trade for Turkey's support and had nothing to do with the US seeing Turkey as a European nation?

The US has always treated Turkey as more European than Middle Eastern ... and this is not a departure from that treatment at all.

Posted by: McQ at June 29, 2004 07:20 AM

And of course, Chirac turns around and sinks a US proposal to send NATO forces to secure the Afghan elections.

And this is the man without who's approval, John Kerry feels our efforts are unilateral and fradulant...

Posted by: shark at June 29, 2004 08:45 AM

Having lived in France for close to 10 years, I can say that France's major hangup is this constant fear that they would be reduced to irrelevance.

This combined with a withering economy and skyrocketing unemployment rate (without the hope of a nice fat Iraqi oil contract can explain much).

It is better to be hated then ignored...
Or, better to be severely indebted then totally bankrupt.

Posted by: vOyNik at June 29, 2004 01:23 PM

Jacques Chirac, who apparently fancies himself the Emperor of Europe, told the NATO summit attendees that the US has no business expressing an opinion about European affairs.

Meanwhile, he has zero problem with expressing an opinion about American affairs. And Kerry has zero problem with claiming that we need to pay attention to that opinion.

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