International Affairs: March 2003 Archives
Via Instapundit, a very sad article on the recent history of Zimbabwe. Mugabe is as ruthless and terrible as Saddam Hussein, but far less organized and unable to even feed his own people. Before he "freed" Southern Rhodesia, the country was rich and prosperous and exported food to all its neighbors. Now, Zimbabwe is ruled by Mugabe's corrupt cronies who divert all the country's wealth into their own pockets.
SDB writes along the same line that I did earlier. The key to understanding France's decision-making process is understanding their economy and their social welfare system; I don't think that can be understated.
Update:
Further proof of French perfidy. Say that five times fast.
France is in trouble, and its recent surge of anti-Americanism is only a symptom of a far greater problem. If anti-Americanism is the cough and fever, the cancer that is eating the country from the inside is its untenable socialist economy that props up its population of 5 million unemployed, unassimilated, uneducated Arab Muslim immigrants. Read this CNSNews article for a taste, and particularly note:
With up to 90 percent of the population supporting President Jacques Chirac in his opposition to the war in Iraq, the French government has found itself for the first time sharing common ground with the country's largely disenfranchised Muslim youth, who often live in housing projects where drugs, violence and unemployment are rampant...."What is extraordinary," said Jean-Louis Borloo, the minister for cities, "is that the whole immigrant community completely supports France's position. There has never been such national solidarity."
The problem is that France has been guided to this anti-American position by its leaders for precisely this reason: mere solidarity. Anti-Americanism is designed to appease these violent, angry immigrants -- anti-Americanism is the aspirin France is taking for its cancer, and although it may provide relief for a moment, it will not cure the disease.
Jacob Levy over at The Volokh Conspiracy has a different take on the Canada issue than I do. He mentions serveral legitimate grievances that Canada has with the US, and although I don't know a lot about each specifically they aren't all minor. I don't think, however, that these issues are the reason that Canada has refused to support us in Iraq.
Looks like I jumped the gun again. I was one of the crowd predicting that war would start near the end of February, and that mistake should have taught me that Bush isn't quite as impatient as I am. According to this FoxNews item, Bush says that tomorrow will be the "moment of truth" not for Saddam, but for the world. "Asked whether Monday was the day that would determine whether diplomacy could work, he replied, 'That's what I'm saying.'"
Everyone knows that Saddam has no intention of disarming. His moment of truth was some 12 years ago. Finally, though, France, Germany, and the other appeaser states will be forced to stand up either with the United States and the peace-loving nations of the world, or to stand up with Saddam, a murderous, torturing rapist.
I really hope that tomorrow actually is the last chance. That phrase is thrown around far too liberally in diplomatic circles, and I'd like to actually see it stick.
