Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
By Moe Lane Posted in Foreign Affairs — Comments (8) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
I don't want to interfere too much with the latest iteration of the realization that our legislature is pretty much uniformly made up of nitwits - it is, after all, a fine old American tradition to discover anew this sad fact every few years; in fact, I believe that the tradition started with George Washington and a treaty he wanted feedback on - but over in Lebanon it seems that folks didn't clean up as well as they thought they had:
UNITED NATIONS - Top Syrian intelligence officials approved the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and their Lebanese counterparts helped organize it, according to a U.N. probe that officially linked Damascus to the slaying for the first time.
The exhaustive report into the Feb. 14 car bomb that killed the popular opposition leader and 20 others stopped short of fingering Syrian President Bashar Assad or his inner circle. But it accused the regime of failing to cooperate in the probe and alleged Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa lied in a letter to the investigating commission.
Read on.
It also cites one witness as saying Assad's brother-in-law Assef Shawkat, who is Syria's military intelligence chief, set up a false confession to Hariri's murder 15 days before it took place.
Syria rejected the report.
Well, there's a shock.
This is, of course, an opportunity - no, not to invade Syria. Don't be silly. The VRWC-ZOG-NEOCON Grand Alliance has reserved that scenario out for if/when the Democrats actually manage to get a defense hawk elected*; gotta give 'em something to cut their teeth on, the poor dears. No, what the opportunity here is for - and wait for the Right's collective cringe! - the United States and Old Europe to play nicer. Specifically, France.
No, really. France was on-board for the Cedar Revolution in the first place, and they retain a certain interest in the outcome. Not perfect from our point of view - their disinclination to condemn Hizbullah, frex - but it's not actually bad. And while they may not have a large army, they do have one. And I suspect that Pres. Chirac would like to try the carrot over the stick, seeing as the... OK, that was going to be a really crass metaphor. Suffice it to say that he might want to play nice right now.
So. Chirac calls Bush. Chirac tells Bush that he's prepared to guarantee the Lebanese/Syrian border. More than a token, less than American standards - but the idea is to have French troops there (whether or not they're wearing baby-blue helmets). I think that they could swing it, particularly if they deploy units of that Foreign Legion of theirs (hey, the press would love it).
What Chirac would get in exchange? Let's see: the United States Air Force on speed dial, Bush to be the one to request this through the UN and change that stupid menu item back to French Fries. The third one would be negotiable, and probably the second - but the first would give this notion muscle beyond the dreams of avarice. I understand that certain people are contemplating making actual porn** based around American air power for the foreign military market.
Oh, yeah: then Chirac calls Syria's puppet the current President of Lebanon and tells him what a nice thing France will be doing for his country. No applause: just throw money.
Very bad comedy aside, it's becoming clear that Syrian interference in Lebanon is losing whatever tolerance it formerly enjoyed. And while Assad may be trying to mend fences a bit, it's frankly not enough. Some unified displays of displeasure might reinforce that.
Or not***. It's not like I'm a expert on world affairs, or anything.
Moe
*I may be joking. I may not. How do you KNOW? MWWHAAHHH-HAHHHH-HAHHHH-HAHHHHH!!!!!
Sorry; just freaking out the conspiracy theorists.
**No, not really.
***There really is no spoon, you know. Sorry to let you down.
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Meanwhile, back at the ranch... 8 Comments (0 topical, 8 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
We also sometimes say nice things about former President Clinton, Senator Clinton, Daily Kos, the New York Times the Democratic Party and I think once we even gave a golf clap to the American Civil Liberties Union.
It sort of comes with that entire 'sentient adult' thing.
The Gaullism on display in France is nothing more than their sixty-ear Machiavellian calculus on foreign policy. We can go back to almost any event in their modern history and clearly see that France is for France. When they gain from democracy they are for it, and when they gain from tyranny they are for that. It brings to mind the analogy that a broken clock is right twice a day.
What is nice about the French is the same thing that is nice about dealing with a hard nosed businessman. You know that both are motivated by their profit margin, and knowing what motivates someone is half the battle in reaching accords, and having a good relationship. France has simply been shortsighted, and bet on several lame horses. We can count on them in Syria, because it is in their best interest to see Syria emerge from the grip of Bathists.
We have been guilty of the same calculation, but not with anywhere near as much of a sustained policy across so many leaders. This is a point of diplomacy and politics that seems to escape much of the American public. We do not form alliances with people and cultures for their own sake, because we like them and want to make nice-nice. We form alliances for reasons, and objectives. For much of our history that has been primarily to spread freedom and democracy, because, ultimately, that is what ensures our safety. When shortsightedness has caused us to support our natural enemies it usually ends up badly for us, like it is now for the French.
I can't be sure how much of this you intend to be taken seriously, but I find the term 'ZOG' to be offensive.
Which is why I mocked the folks who believe in it by adding the term to the Grand Alliance.
I did suspect that you were joking, but just wanted to be sure. Thanks for the clarification.
This is the Internet, after all: you just never know.
Ah, what it must be like to have no sense of humor.
Thanks for the shared maniacal laugh, Moe.
Could this Blog be saying something FAVORABLE about the UN?