Irrelevance

The debate rages about the necessity of war in Iraq. Now that Germany, France and Belgium have declared 'war' on NATO and threaten to destabilize the binding alliance that has served them and the nations of Europe well since WW II, perhaps its time they foot the bill for their own defense. Perhaps our troops are better housed elsewhere in Europe. I served in the 8th Infantry Division in Europe and we were treated well by the German friends we developed. Too bad the present leadership has a different worldview. I think the Germans will unelect Schroeder and his crowd when the opportunity arises. As for the French, they are a hopeless case. Their lost glory drives them to seek 'name recognition,' though they have little foreign policy substance, it seems to me.

Their real issue, I think, is they are such a large trading partner with Iraq and hold significant financial interests in oil fields and infrastructure, the French are afraid that will be lost should Saddam torch the fields as he did in Kuwait. After the war, It will be interesting to see if the French and Germans try to regain a stake in the place. Unless they change their spots, this administration should publicly tell those leopards to take a hike and hold hands with Belgium while they do it. George Will's take on it...


Those threatening to prevent it ( the defense of Turkey as a NATO member) include Belgium, France and Germany. The last two are continually called "key allies." But "key" to what?
Nothing military. And NATO is a military organization. With France fomenting worldwide opposition to a U.S. military action deemed by the U.S. government vital to national security, and with Germany drawing France into embrace of semi-pacifism, NATO is becoming what Donald Rumsfeld warns the U.N. is becoming -- a thing of ridicule.

In Munich last week, Germany's foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, impertinently lectured Rumsfeld that America might have to stay in postwar Iraq for several years, and wondered whether America has the staying power. Someone should tell Fischer that U.S. troops have been in Fischer's country 58 years -- not quite as long as Rome's legions were, but long enough to prove staying power.