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| Europe |
| France Invites Schroeder to D-Day Events |
| 2004-01-02 |
| PARIS (AP) - France said it has asked German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to attend June commemorations of the D-Day invasion, a historic invitation that shows the two former enemies are healing old wounds. Schroeder was very pleased and has accepted, a spokesman from his office said Thursday. For the 60th anniversary commemoration, France also invited leaders of World War II’s Allied nations, including President Bush. Schroeder is to be the first German leader to mark an anniversary of the Normandy landings. Ten years ago, Chancellor Helmut Kohl was not invited to the 50th anniversary ceremony - a decision that caused sore feelings in Germany and soured relations with France. French-German ties got a boost in January 2003, when the neighbors marked 40 years of reconciliation, turning a page on their warring past and pledging to work together at the heart of the European Union. ``Operation Overlord,’’ the code name for the landings, will be marked with a ceremony at Arromanches, a Normandy town between two of the beaches where soldiers came ashore. I don’t have any problems with this -- hell, invite him, why not? I’m certainly going to enjoy Bush’s speech on that day, I’m sure he’ll rise to the occasion. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #12 My dad landed on June 12th, and fought in the hedgerows and Saint Lo breakout, then across France and Germany into Czechoslovakia. The only military organization he ever joined was the 4th Armored Division Association. The only other time he ever supported anything related to the military, World War II, or anything else, was a financial contribution to the Normandy Landing monument. He considered that one of the major military miracles of all time. A total of 46 countries sent troops to fight in Europe, including the Brazilian 5th Brigade, the largest non-US, non-Commonwealth unit (fought in Italy). French contributions were mixed: some Free French forces fought, many did not. Some French fought the NAZIs, some collaborated with them. Let the 46 nations that actually sent troops (which includes France), together, invite Schroder, or anyone else, as they choose. Unilateral French action on this matter is just another sign of French arrogance, and an affront to those who actually fought and died to free France from NAZI imperialism. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-1-2 11:44:59 AM |
| #11 ANSWER will of course be holding a counter-demonstration blaming the US and Britain for the destruction of world peace and the League of Nations. Sanctions would have worked. Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo obviously would have buckled under the weight of international sanctions. |
| Posted by: Tornado 2004-1-2 11:01:12 AM |
| #10 Shame on you for thinking we should strafe the proceedings... |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-1-2 10:33:40 AM |
| #9 I told that it was to the Allies to admit nations at D-Day since it was them who bled at it. I forgot about the resistance people, many of them having been sacrified to keep the Boches in the belief the blow would fall in Pas de Calais. However it would not be to Chirak (eternal camel piss be upon him) to represent them but to a person named by the living holders of the Ordre de la Liberation. And I have little doubt what would be their answer to a proposal of inviting Scroeder. |
| Posted by: JFM 2004-1-2 9:09:08 AM |
| #8 An alternative: have a separate ceremony in England at the location from which the invasion was launched with the support of our long time and best ally Great Briton. |
| Posted by: Dan Canaveral 2004-1-2 8:18:02 AM |
| #7 And BTW despite being French I fele that given the limited role of French forces on D-DAY: Kieffer commando, some air and naval units Chirak (eternal piss be upon him) has no right to extend invitations without an agreement from the main actors: Canada, the UK and the US. |
| Posted by: JFM 2004-1-2 4:09:36 AM |
| #6 I see no role for Schroeder in those ceremonies except as the villain who gets bombed with tomatoes. |
| Posted by: JFM 2004-1-2 4:04:50 AM |
| #5 "Healing"? ChIRAQ is beginning to realize that france is all alone in the world and he knows damn well that the Germans aren't as stupid as he is, so he's trying to cement the relationship before he's left holding the baby all by his lonesome. Damn, but I love the smell of fear from weasels in the morning. Smells like... Victory. |
| Posted by: Emperor Misha I 2004-1-2 3:04:10 AM |
| #4 .com, agree... no much "healing" to do between France and Germany. But Bush should attend... for exactly the reasons you have given. And to honor the veterans who will attend the ceremony... who stormed the beaches and liberated not only France... but also Buchenwald. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-1-2 2:05:25 AM |
| #3 Since Chirac and Shroeder are as cozy as thieves, and have been for a couple of years, now, the first sentence is grossly misleading. It's goofy that anyone is trying to make something of this ceremony as if they aren't already big political pals. Weird! Misleading. Suspicious. I agree that Shroeder attending the ceremony is fine - hell, it was 60 yrs ago. Defeating Nazism was a great and noble effort... one of the truly great feats of the 20th century, in fact. And, in those intervening years, the reforms of the German govt have been great, but even greater are the changes instituted and embraced by the German people. I truly admire and respect what they have done. The current distance between Berlin and Washington exists mainly because of a mere politician playing off of these societal reforms - twisted for his political ends. So, though he is a cretin, he is their elected cretin and should attend on behalf of the German people. On the other hand, perhaps George should give it a pass - the fact that France was freed has begun to seem incidental, and almost embarrassing. Attending this ceremony is a gesture lost on these later generations of French who have no appreciation for the sacrifice - of the war treasure of lives expended or the peace treasure expended rebuilding their infrastructure or the costly Cold War defense blanket which kept the Communists at bay. France was a lousy Post WW-I ally at best. Now they are ex-whatevers who have chosen to hate us for our successes, blame us for their failures, and made dragging us down to their level a basic national policy. Why give the French leadership responsible a photo-op and lend them the pretense of being relevant? If we wish to memorialize the heroic dead of WW-II, we can do it with greater dignity somewhere else and with true allies - sans the political gamesmanship. Why dignify the French sham? It strikes me as disingenuous and almost, just almost, a lie of omission not to make a clean break and make our reasoning clear. Just a thought. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-1-2 1:55:09 AM |
| #2 Btw Fred, I like the current fonts, looks great! |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-1-2 1:17:45 AM |
| #1 That Mitterand didn't invite Kohl didn't really cause bad feelings in Germany, just in Kohl. Most Germans thought that this was not their party anyway. With U.S. election campaign running full steam this could get interesting. I bet Bush is going to repeat that phrase about that the U.S. never claimed more land than needed to bury her dead. And I wouldn't be surprised if Schroeder made more reconciliation efforts with Bush than Chirac may like. At this time it should be very clear who is going to be in the White House for the next four years. Maybe Schroeder knows better than Chirac. I'm still going to kick his ass. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-1-2 1:14:56 AM |