One more thing about this: "...while at the same time accuse him of 'cunning', intricate, nuanced maneuvers like breaking up EU..."
I've always been of the opinion that however European countries sort out their different --and sometimes conflicting-- interests, the US will always be able to turn it to its own advantage... Europeans cling to the misperception that the US is FOR this and AGAINST that with regard to any European issue and that's plain wrong!
Turkey, for that matter, is a good case in point: three months ago, when the newly elected Turkish administration (Erdogan) strong-armed EU officials at the Copenhagen summit into offering Turkey a membership deadline, most of Europe's ruling elites cried foul and accused the US of barging into EU affairs --the destiny of the European Union, they claimed, was the affair of Europeans only and none of America's business... Today, by an ironic twist of history, these same Europeans, who were so afraid of granting Turkey EU membership, find themselves at odds with the so-called New Europe --LOL! The very country that, for obvious reasons, opposes the war on Iraq and supports a peaceful settlement --that is, the only EU candidate that fully agrees with the French/German/Belgian standpoint-- was denied EU membership, and awkwardly so!
Of course, such an anticlimactic turn of events serves the US interests... BUT SO WOULD THE OPPOSITE OUTCOME! Indeed, just as the US uses Britain as a Trojan horse inside the EU fortress, the US would have used Turkey just the same... With or without, inside or outside, no matter the status of a given country vis-a-vis Europe, the US will always figure out the proper angle to turn it to its best interest.
Gus |
