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December 15, 2007 | A French perspective? I can almost see the folks that thought "freedom fries" was an apropos reaction to French refusal to join in the U.S. invasion of Iraq rolling their eyes in continued ignorance.
The prevailing attitude toward France in the United States has not been a respectful one for decades. Such a prevailing attitude, however, is generally questionable when less than 10 percent of a population in excess of 300 million actually have passports. Maybe more time should be devoted to French perspective. An excellent example might be the recent December 2007 publication of the English edition of Le Monde diplomatique. The text is very matter of fact - lacking any assumed arrogance mistakenly attributable to all things French by the average American. A good start to such a reading would be the article "Collapse at the Centre", by Ignacio Ramonet. The article presents concerns as regards the current state of affairs and instability in Pakistan as a result of the proverbial "war on terror" led by the U.S. The succinct directness of the article is admirable and free from the normal hype associated with mainstream media publications in the U.S. On Pakistan - "In return for his support, Musharraf got international recognition and $11bn to equip his army and police force. Pakistan, with a population of 167 million, is the only Muslim country with nuclear weapons and the capability to fire long-range missiles up to 2,500km. It is of enormous strategic importance, located close to the crises in Afghanistan, Iran and the Middle East. The great fear in the US and elsewhere is that Islamists in Pakistan will join forces with the Taliban, take control of the country and get their hands on nuclear weapons." And then the kicker, "The Bush administration saw no contradiction in joining forces with a dictator in one country to bring democracy to another." On Iran - "US intervention has rescued its worst enemy, Iran, from two dangerous rivals: the Ba'athist regime in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan. (A country can seldom have done its principal enemy such favours.) Iran is now free to concentrate on its nuclear programme. The US and Israel threaten to bomb its nuclear installations, adding to the chaos in the region and driving oil prices up." On Iraq and the "war on terror" - "More than four years after the capture of Baghdad, the geopolitical outlook is bleak. The military impasse has been followed by diplomatic disasters. The terrorist threat is undiminished despite the declared objective of the United States. None of the conflicts - Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Somalia - have been resolved. There are 165,000 US troops in Iraq but prospects remain uncertain. Daily life for the civilian population is still hell. And there is trouble in the north, on the border between Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkey, with the threat of a clash between two US allies." Point blank - the assessments are dead on. The implications need no further elaboration. There is no spin, no disrespect and no arrogance. Would it not be advantageous if such articles would emanate from U.S. media - or would be given a green light by the mega-corporate editors of U.S. mainstream media? Collapse at the Centre, by Ignacio Ramonet, December 2007, Le Monde diplomatique
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