March 10, 2003 9:00 a.m.
A Theory
What if there�s method to the Franco-German madness?
Michael Ledeen
National Review
http://www.nationalreview.com/ledeen/ledeen031003.asp
Assume, for a moment, that the French and the Germans
aren't thwarting us out of pique, but by design,
long-term design. Then look at the world again, and
see if there's evidence of such a design.
Like everyone else, the French and the Germans saw
that the defeat of the Soviet Empire projected the
United States into the rare, almost unique position of
a global hyperpower, a country so strong in every
measurable element that no other nation could possibly
resist its will. The "new Europe" had been designed to
carve out a limited autonomy for the old continent, a
balance-point between the Americans and the Soviets.
But once the Soviets were gone, and the Red Army
melted down, the European Union was reduced to a
combination theme park and free-trade zone. Some
foolish American professors and doltish politicians
might say � and even believe � that henceforth "power"
would be defined in economic terms, and that military
power would no longer count. But cynical Europeans
know better.
They dreaded the establishment of an American empire,
and they sought for a way to bring it down.
If you were the French president or the German
chancellor, you might well have done the same.
How could it be done? No military operation could
possibly defeat the United States, and no direct
economic challenge could hope to succeed. That left
politics and culture. And here there was a chance to
turn America's vaunted openness at home and toleration
abroad against the United States. So the French and
the Germans struck a deal with radical Islam and with
radical Arabs: You go after the United States, and
we'll do everything we can to protect you, and we will
do everything we can to weaken the Americans.
The Franco-German strategy was based on using Arab and
Islamic extremism and terrorism as the weapon of
choice, and the United Nations as the straitjacket for
blocking a decisive response from the United States.
This required considerable skill, and total cynicism,
both of which were in abundant supply in Paris and
Berlin. Chancellor Shroeder gained reelection by
warning of American warmongering, even though, as
usual, America had been attacked first. And both
Shroeder and Chirac went to great lengths to support
Islamic institutions in their countries, even when �
as in the French case � it was in open violation of
the national constitution. French law stipulates a
total separation of church and state, yet the French
Government openly funds Islamic "study" centers,
mosques, and welfare organizations. A couple of months
ago, Chirac approved the creation of an Islamic
political body, a mini-parliament, that would provide
Muslims living in France with official stature and
enhanced political clout. And both countries have
permitted the Saudis to build thousands of radical
Wahhabi mosques and schools, where the hatred of the
infidels is instilled in generation after generation
of young Sunnis. It is perhaps no accident that Chirac
went to Algeria last week and promised a cheering
crowd that he would not rest until America's grand
design had been defeated.
Both countries have been totally deaf to suggestions
that the West take stern measures against the
tyrannical terrorist sponsors in Iran, Iraq, Syria,
Libya, and Saudi Arabia. Instead, they do everything
in their power to undermine American-sponsored trade
embargoes or more limited sanctions, and it is an open
secret that they have been supplying Saddam with
military technology through the corrupt ports of
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid's little playground in
Dubai, often through Iranian middlemen.
It sounds fanciful, to be sure. But the smartest
people I know have been thoroughly astonished at
recent French and German behavior. This theory may
help understand what's going on. I now believe that I
was wrong to forecast that the French would join the
war against Iraq at the last minute, having gained
every possible economic advantage in the meantime. I
think Chirac will oppose us before, during, and after
the war, because he has cast his lot with radical
Islam and with the Arab extremists. He isn't doing it
just for the money � although I have no doubt that
France is being richly rewarded for defending Saddam
against the civilized countries of the world � but for
higher stakes. He's fighting to end the feared
American domination before it takes stable shape.
If this is correct, we will have to pursue the war
against terror far beyond the boundaries of the Middle
East, into the heart of Western Europe. And there, as
in the Middle East, our greatest weapons are
political: the demonstrated desire for freedom of the
peoples of the countries that oppose us.
Radio Free France, anyone?
� Michael Ledeen, an NRO contributing editor, is most
recently the author of The War Against the Terror
Masters. Ledeen, Resident Scholar in the Freedom Chair
at the American Enterprise Institute, can be reached
through Benador Associates.
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John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Tonight I have a message for the brave and oppressed people of Iraq:
Your enemy is not surrounding your country � your enemy is ruling your
country. And the day he and his regime are removed from power will be
the day of your liberation." -George W. Bush 1/29/03
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