Opposition in France

[Seth Ackerman]

 As for the French, they have never been and never will
>be the lapdogs of the US.  The Gaullist tradition of opposing
>in an almost knee jerk fashion policies promulgated in London
>and Washington is very much alive and well.

<What can I say? Daniel Singer, who lives there, says the Gaullist
tradition
is dead. I guess we've got a difference of opinion here.>

-------------------------------

>From the Guardian (or maybe it was the Observer):

		Odd bedfellows, old slogans 

		The French response: Loyalties lost in the shuffle. Paul
Webster reports 

		Monday April 12, 1999 


		A leftwing revolt against the Kosovo campaign has
created some of the most unlikely political and intellectual alliances
since the Algerian war while undermining Lionel Jospin's authority in
the Socialist-led coalition.

		Feuding over French participation in Nato strategy, so
far limited to eight bombs on Serbian targets, has wrecked long-standing
human rights partnerships, pushed old enemies into joint action, broken
up a moral consensus and revived a simplistic anti-Americanism
reminiscent of the 1950s.

		Tensions caused by anti-war campaigns led by the
interior minister, Jean-Pierre Chevenement, and stalwart Gaullists such
as Charles Pasqua, have contributed to belligerent reactions by the
prime minister and President Jacques Chirac, whose `cohabitation' has
entered a honeymoon phase with joint daily pledges of their will to go
on fighting.

		De facto political alliances are astonishing enough with
the Communist leader, Robert Hue, finding himself in the anti-war lobby
alongside the National Front chairman, Jean-Marie Le Pen, while the
Greens' Daniel Cohn-Bendit, puts out much the same bellicose message as
the Gaullist chairman, Philippe Seguin.

		But the moral disorder is even more eccentric, with
writers like Regis Debray and impeccable human rights activists such as
Pierre Vidal-Naquet fighting a pitched pacifist battle against a
philosophical pro-war lobby led by Henri Bernard-Levy and Andre
Glucksmann.

		The argument has also split families, with the writer
Oliver Todd in the pro-war camp while his son, Emmanuel, backs a
pacifist group that includes the author and former Socialist minister,
Max Gallo.

		Although about 60 per cent of the electorate approve of
French intervention, according to public opinion polls which also show
overwhelming support for Mr Jospin and the president, the anti-war
faction is bringing more and more opponents into the streets.

		Apart from the Communist Party, which has revived the
1950s atmosphere with slogans like `Nato go home', the anti-war faction
includes the biggest Trotskyist movements, trade unions, teachers and
human rights organisations like the movement against racism, MRAP.

		Among press support is the popular weekly, Marianne,
whose editor, Jean-Francois Kahn, described Mr Chirac and Mr Jospin as
`killers of the innocents'. While the war's opponents include a strong
layer of what is known as the `moral left', the underlying rallying call
is the anti-Americanism which led Mr Debray to stigmatise France's
co-operation as sleepwalking behind American priorities.

		Apart from winning over allies such as Mr Chirac's
former adviser, Marie-France Garaud, leftwing suspicion of US motives
has rallied middle of the road figures, including the former United
Nations protection force commander in the region, General Jean Cot.

		In juggling with the leftwing mutiny, Mr Jospin has so
far avoided a showdown although cabinet meetings underline a chasm
between the leading pros and antis. The health minister, Bernard
Kouchner, is the architect of a policy known as `the right to interfere'
to solve humanitarian crises even in sovereign states.

		The environment minister, Dominique Voynet, represents
what has been described as the most strident pro-war voice, the
Greens.Ranged against them are Communists, such as the transport
minister, Jean-Claude Gayssot, and the sports minister, Marie-Georges
Buffet, who have backed marches calling for Mr Jospin to go.

		But the most troublesome case is Mr Chevenement, who
resigned as defence minister at the beginning of the Gulf war to set up
his own splinter party, the Citizens' Movement.

		Because a ground war could force him to lead the
pacifist faction out of Mr Jospin's government, every gesture he makes
is being intently analysed.

		Allying the three strands of opposition political, moral
and intellectual he gave the whole cabinet photocopies of an article by
the German writer, Hans Magnus Enzensberger, which calls for an end to
the `fantasy of omnipotent morality'.

		The war could be over before anyone decides what Mr
Chevenement really meant by distributing a work condemning `global
rhetoric', which, he said, reflected `my philosophical state of mind'.