> > Well, tell us what l'ambassadeur has to say. I predict that
> > it will be all about how glad we all are to see the evil
> > Saddam go but now the U.S. should share the kill with the
> > other imperialist powers (this proposition may be posed in
> > the form "the UN should have a central role etc.") and the
> > existing oil contracts (with France, for example) should be
> > honored. "Vive les français" indeed, but (le gouvernement
> > de) la France doesn't merit a lot of cheering these days.
Wojtek's report:
> Actually, it was very diplomatic and very civil. Monsieur Jean David
> Levitte stated that the difference between his (and other European)
> governments and the US administration was not that much about the
> substance (he believed that Mr. Hussrin was a bloody dictator) but about
> the legalities. He favored a cooperative multilateral approach instead
> of the US unilateralism, albeit he did state that the war was
> unjustified on thegrounds of security threat, since threat posed by Iraq
> was minimal. However, he was very eager to put the past behind and look
> into the future cooperation, not just on Iraq but in general, because we
> share not only common values but a big deal of trade as well - not to
> mention that the combined economies of the EU and the US amount to about
> two thirds of the global GDP. He looked forward into the UN role in
> rebuilding Iraqi economy and democracy as well as diffusing further
> conflicts.
I am scoring myself 100% for my prediction. Any objections? :-)
Some reasonable questions might have been, "You believe that the thing to do now with respect to the illegal invasion of Iraq is to put the past behind us, look to future cooperation, etc. Would it have been good to apply a similar policy to the German unilateralist actions in France in 1940? Or, if that is ancient history, to the Iraqi unilateralist actions in Kuwait in 1990? On those occasions a 'coalition of the willing' was put together to oust the aggressor. Would your government be willing to join such a coalition to oust the aggressor today? If not, why not? How large and fleshy a bone do you think Bush will throw you?"
LP