I take a look at some recent comments by the French Premier to see if the United States perhaps should look east for policy advice.
I've struggled over what to write about in my first posting, I had originally intended to cover the fact the Democrats has stuffed the appropriation bill to finance the war in Iraq and Afghanistan with over twenty-billion dollars in pork barrel projects.
Ranging from.
-$25 million for spinach farmers who were hit by that outbreak of e.coli last fall
-$74 million for a peanut storage program that pays storage and handling fees as farmers market their crop.
-$400 million in additional heating subsidies for the poor.
My favorite has got to be this little tidbit.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore. - whose support for war funding is contingent on add-ons. In DeFazio's case, it's $400 million to extend payments to rural counties hurt by cutbacks in federal logging.
Of course the White House didn't stop themselves from trying to sneak in a little useless pork.
-White House eliminated several much-criticized requests for airplanes - including two next generation Joint Strike Fighters - that never would have seen action in Iraq.
I hope to write a much more comprehensive analysis of Congressional shafting of American soldiers and taxpayers so they can bring home the pork to their districts.
No today, I'm writing about French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who in recent days has been making some interesting remarks. This is not the usual Daily Kos content, but I thought it would be a welcomed respite.
Let us first start with the Prime Minister's view about America, Iraq, and how he knows best.
"The war with Iraq marked a turning point. It shattered America's image," said Villepin, who opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq, at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
If this is true or not, someone will forgive me if I'm less then caring about the judgment of a French Prime Minister. The United States has a long history, some of it good, some of it bad but the presumption in this statement is amazing.
France itself has an imperialist past that makes America look like a blushing virgin, then again I suppose there is some mild resentment. France has spent the last hundred years watching their countries prestige slowly degenerate, much like Iran, France still seems to have delusions of grandeur as you would say.
Personally I'm in with those believe that France is less upset by our actions, but more upset that we didn't listen to Chirac in 2003.
Moving On
"We must be clear on a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops. I believe that it should take place within a year, during the year 2008," said Villepin. "This will allow Iraqis to feel that their future is in their hands and put them back on the path of national sovereignty."
Just who in the hell is we? Did I missing something? Does France have some super elite brigade fighting against Islamic insurgents in Iraq? Then again who can argue with this mans memorizing probing of the Iraqi state of mind.
Ok I concede that the view of Iraq around here is that it's an unmitigated disaster, but forgive me if I'm a little skeptical of a French politician offering military advice.
Now what else could I find?
Can someone say Palestinian Unity Government!
"We must resume direct assistance to the Palestinian national unity government as soon as it is inaugurated," Dominique de Villepin said in remarks prepared for a speech Friday at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. "We must also resume aid to cooperation projects in order to reestablish the conditions for real development."
So basically this guy wants the United States to begin financing a government lead by Hamas, and they haven't even gave into the token demands of the West. They still refuse to renounce violence, they refuse to recognize Israel, and generally are still the same old violent terrorist group they always have been.
Now he wants us to send them money? I'm sure Hamas will only use the money for "legitimate" government functions.
You know suicide bombings, kidnappings, big colorful parades parading pictures around and screaming loudly.
You don't have to be cynical to see that it would be rank stupid to send money to a Hamas led government.
Sniff But Sniff They were elected Sniff
Yay! Good for the Palestinians! They voted!
I don't quite remember reading anywhere in the constitution that foreign aid was a god given right, in fact I could make a case against it really. We are under no moral, ethical, or even international obligation to continue to send money to the Palestinians.
The EU relies on "soft power" probably because that is the only type of power there capable of exercising, there military is... funny. There is nothing wrong with soft power, but let's not believe there doing it out of some altruistic reason.
It's all they can do to stay relevant.
Now what about Darfur!
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said Thursday the international community must work to win both Arab and African support to resolve the four-year conflict. He dismissed the idea of a Security Council resolution against Sudan, saying it would "only accelerate (the process) on paper."
What the hell does he call hundreds of thousands of people slaughtered? I would call that an "accelerated" process. He is suggesting that we play shuttle diplomacy with countries in Africa and the Middle East for the next couple of years.
Well I'm sure this will solve the problem, in a couple more years there won't be anyone to save.
The fact is the UN is inept to doing anything about Darfur because China has a vested interest in protecting Sudan.
Black gold people, Sudan supplies a nice healthy juicy piece of China's oil and they definitely don't want to see the Khartoum government fall.
Personally I favor an international coalition deployment to Sudan, their approval or not. Then again of course this will never happen. Because the EU would whine about needing UN approval, and poor Bush wouldn't dare offend the hostile MoveOn.org crowd by launching another fight.
So the poor people of Darfur will continue to suffer and I've renewed my faith in the UN as the biggest waste of taxpayer money for the past fifty-years.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin is just another classic version of the French "Republican aristocracy" a group of families whose members graduate from the grandes écoles and go on to become high-ranking civil servants.
Now Iraq is a mess, Darfur is a mess, Palestine is a mess, then again so is this guy's ideas on how to fix them.
P.S. I've often found myself here in my comments arguing a more right-of-center view, this rather disturbing trend could be trailed back to my inane desire to challenge any statement I disagree with. Personally my political positions jump around from liberal, libertarian, to conservative depending on the issues. So if your curious about them, just ask.
Source 1
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Source 4 (Democrats Go Hog Wild!)