Overall he might exagerate a bit but I think a lot of what he says is true. I think many Europeans are to quick to bash the US. I also agree that our protection our military presense helps other countries so in a sense it is foreign aid. And when it does hit the fan who does the world look to? I'll give you a clue it isn't France.
Tim, first off we seem to be playing the current war scenario whichever way works for us with little input from Europe. Oh yeah, at the beginning, we asked for Europe's support and affirmation but then when it became clear that Europe did not want it to go any further than Afghanistan, we stopped asking. Secondly, one minute this whole thing is a war and therefore secret military tribunals are justified, then in the next minute, this is not a war and we do not have to house the prisoners in accordance with the Geneva Convention. If I were a European leader, I would be a little surprised that the US which claims to be God's chosen, the super power with a heart, twists the laws to suit its own purposes.
Thirdly, the US's strong shift to the right has caught most of Europe off guard. My European friends remark on that issue all the time. Finally the fact that we are a superpower with the largest nuclear arsenal hell bent on cleaning up the world in our image I think would be a little disconcerting to anyone, friend or foe.
As for the author, how old is he? He talks about Europe being steeped in aristocratic socialism and envious of the US. I think both were true may be in the middle part of the twentieth century but not now. Why would Europe be envious?There lifestyle is generally better than us...yes, we might have a bigger GDP or whatever but the average Western European lives well with less people living on skid row. Their cities are very liveable; they don't have the smog problems we do; there are reasonable alternatives to the car; they can travel by train and not have to worry about flying into a bldg. etc.
I could go on but its ridiculous to think that South America will replace Europe as our allies any time in the next 50 years. S. America, after centuries of turmoil, has just begun to realize some political and economic stability.....and that stability is very tenuous at best.
Like I said, that guy has been laying in the CA sun for too long.
ted |
