Re: I am always amazed that some Europeans (esp French and Belgians) proclaim George Bush as 'simplistic' and almost moronic while at the same time accuse him of 'cunning', intricate, nuanced maneuvers like breaking up EU or bringing down France.
I for one never accused the Bush administration of stupidity and simple-mindedness.... From day one I've always supported Bush --actually, even before he got elected... check it out on the WAR thread -- count me out of the Bush-stole-the-2000-election crowd....
Re: BTW, its interesting to see Belgium in such lockstep support of France. If you had only heard all the countless jokes sur "Les Belges" that I have heard in my lifetime....
IT'S THE ECONOMY, STUPID! Since 1988, Belgium has gradually been turned into a French subsidiary... Big chunks of corporate Belgium have been swallowed up by even bigger French powerhouses: Société Générale de Belgique is the property of Groupe Suez, Cockerill is owned by Arcelor (formerly French Usinor), Mobistar is owned by France Telecom, even the #1 Walloon soccer club Le Standard de Liège is owned by French tycoon Robert Louis-Dreyfus (who also owns the French club Olympique de Marseille), Belgium's aerospace industry relies heavily on French Airbus industrie and Ariane espace, several major Belgian real estate developers were also taken over by the French...
Besides, France's growing interest for Belgium stems also from the importance of Brussels as the de facto capital of Europe... Think about it: Apart from Strasbourg, Brussels is the only French-speaking city that harbors key EU institutions: the ECB is in Frankfurt (German), the European Court of Justice is in Luxembourg (German), and Germany's political center itself has shifted eastward from Bonn to Berlin...
Finally, both France and Belgium share a common view over Africa...
Gus |
