In my brief time in Paris I don’t sense any animosity whatsover from Parisians towards Americans. Any anti-American tendencies are directed towards the Bush administration and its contempt for Europe in general and France in particular. Therefore any overture by Bush and his neocon pals make towards improving relations with Europe is greeted with a great deal suspicion, if not cynicism. The current effort by the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) – the same idiots who brought us the invasion of Iraq – to form a new alliance with European intellectuals and political leaders has been noted by the newspaper Liberation in Paris:
Les néoconservateurs américains, ces intellectuels qui ont inspiré la politique étrangère de l’équipe Bush, ont décidé de lancer une offensive idéologique vers l’Europe, continent dont leur vision stratégique se désintéressait jusque-là. Selon nos informations, leur laboratoire à idées, le Pnac (Project for a New American Century), est en train de mettre en place un réseau transatlantique baptisé «Committee for a Strong Europe» (comité pour une Europe forte). Il aura pour présidents d’honneur l’ancien Premier ministre espagnol José Maria Aznar, et le sénateur américain John McCain. Une déclaration de principe a été rédigée et la chasse aux signatures a commencé.
Here are the basic principles espoused by the Committee for a Strong Europe:
– We believe that the desire for freedom is universal–unbounded by culture, religion or geography.
– We believe that a strong partnership between the United States and Europe is crucial to the defense and promotion of freedom for all nations.
– We believe both Europe and the United States must have strong and free economies that encourage entrepreneurship and individual initiative and responsibility.
– We believe both the United States and Europe should invest adequately in their armed forces so as to have strong militaries capable of serving in a wide variety of missions around the world.
– We believe that all free nations must fight terrorism and adopt policies that challenge states that harbor or support terrorists.
– We believe that all free nations have an obligation to aid those living in tyranny, and that regimes that subjugate their own people at home will not be reliable friends and allies.
On the face of it, these principles are inoffensive, and broad enough in scope that anyone could support them. The Committe goes on to say: "Our conviction is that a strong Europe can act effectively in concert with the United States to deal with the threats we face, and to take advantage of the opportunities we share to expand freedom around the globe and to shape a world in which liberal and democratic principles flourish." Hmm, what are the "opportunities to expand freedom"? Maybe an invasion of Iran? It is telling that the only European who has signed on as a charter member of the committee is Jose Maria Aznar, who involved his country in the Iraq invasion against the popular will of the Spanish people. Will leading figure of the CDU sign on as members of this Committee for a Strong Europe?
The timing of this Committee’s formation is telling. Do the neoconservatives in Washington finally realize that the US needs some strong allies?
