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Politics : Your Thoughts Regarding France? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: HH who wrote (193)	2/26/2003 4:13:25 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Respond to of 662

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

To: HH who wrote (193)	2/26/2003 4:44:03 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 662

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