EFL
Let us make a bet with very high odds and sad returns: Iran's nuclear program is likely to derail any serious rapprochement between the United States and western Europe. Indeed, it is quite possible this issue will do more damage to U.S.-European relations than the Iraq war did, because the European Union's approach to a nuclear Islamic republic could become more morally repellent to George W. Bush than was the Franco-German campaign against the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq.
What the EU3 really wants from Washington is "Libya Plus": in exchange for good nuclear comportment, the Bush administration should forgive the Islamic republic its terrorism--the clerics ruling Iran are the same ones who orchestrated the bombing of Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996--without the clerics admitting guilt. The United States should be prepared to promise non-interference in Iran's internal affairs and stop condemning clerical tyranny and publicly supporting the country's democratic movement. In other words, the Bush administration should refrain from any action that might resemble Ronald Reagan's strategy toward the Soviet bloc.
If the EU3 could convince the Bush administration to "engage" Iran in this manner it would, of course, achieve perhaps the most highly-desired Franco-German foreign policy goal: effectively gutting the Bush administration's post-9/11 energy and mission. The Middle Eastern government with the longest terrorist track record could be rewarded with Boeing contracts. The Middle Eastern Muslim population with the most advanced democratic and pro-American culture, could be denied support just as Iraq's elections have started a democratic rumbling in the region. Such contradictions between Mr. Bush's words and actions would paralyze the administration. Conservative France and Germany, with a decidedly more Eurocentric, conflicted Britain in tow, will have downed the Texan Prometheus and his too-muscularly liberal America.
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Posted by: Bobby ||
03/08/2005 11:10:55 AM ||
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I don't suppose Bashar al-Assad has much in common with Eric Clapton - though, come to think of it, "Layla" is a Lebanese name, and there must be a few of them among the smouldering, raven-tressed, black-eyed Beirut babes so fetchingly demanding their nation's freedom on the covers of this week's Economist, Newsweek, Weekly Standard et al. At any rate, Boy Assad has no desire to find himself wailing, "Layla, you got me on my knees."
Nor has he any wish to sing I Shot The Sharif - that would be Khalil Mustafa bin Muhammad Sharif, a prominent Syrian Kurd who got questioned to death in Damascus last year. In any case, the Syrian government's official position remains that, whether or not they shot the Sharif, they did not shoot the Lebanese parliamentary deputy.
Nevertheless, young Bashar must be feeling a bit like old Clapper in his now celebrated encounter with the Queen. You're a big-time dictator, everybody knows that. Yet George W Bush seems to have no idea what an A-list mega-legend you are.
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Posted by: .com ||
03/08/2005 4:35:17 AM ||
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#1
Does a good job of capturing how the world has changed. Diplospeak is out and the truth is in. I look forward to hearing Condi say "We have heard reports of Assad's death. When I say its premature that applies to the reports and not the event."
#2
all good, but from the size of the pro-syria hezballah demonstration in beirut today, Iran's stooges won't let this go without bloodshed - they have no other place to go -
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2005 9:59 Comments ||
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GREAT FIND STEYN!
Thanks for the heads up...
"Itâs clear if the Syrians are in Lebanon, itâs because peace has to be maintained."
- Paul Martin.
Hmmm. This is worse than I thought. Seems we ought to erect a 12 foot high electrified fence to the north to keep the mad cow disease out... It's obviously affected the highest levels of the government of Canada.
By Andrew Apostolou
Yet again, the US appears to be facing a setback in Iraq. The cloud in the silver lining of the Iraqi elections seems to be the victory of the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), a coalition dominated by Shi'a Islamist parties. To make matters worse, many parties in the UIA are portrayed as Iranian puppets. The UIA's candidate for the post of prime minister, Ibrahim Ja'afari, is a man with decidedly fundamentalist views who spent many years in exile in Iran. Iraqi Arabs voted not for liberals but for Islamists, while the minorities opted for nationalists. It looks like "blowback" all over again.
So, Derb doesn't knows what's he's talking about?
Posted by: gromgorru ||
03/08/2005 8:56:01 AM ||
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Posted by: Bobby ||
03/08/2005 21:32 Comments ||
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nice try, but I stole it and beat you ⢠Bwahahhahaha. Willing to sell my rights, though, for a virtual beer in the O-Club cuz you're alright Bobby :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2005 21:39 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
