France knows how to repay its debts. De Gaulle kicked Britain in the teeth after France was liberated so the brusque refusal to help Bush invade Iraq shouldn’t come as a big surprise. More recently, French authorities caused a sensation when a proposal to bulldoze war graves was revealed. If the NYP and the Bush administration thinks it can shame France into changing its position on Iraq then they are going to be disappointed.
Now Bush is fuming over the perceived betrayal of Turkey by their NATO allies, France and Germany. Poor Turkey, friend to the US and sharing a border with Northern Iraq, needs extra military might to protect itself from a possible attack from Saddam’s forces. The cynical Chirac and Schroeder perceive US concern for Turkey’s border as nothing more than a devious pretext to build-up forces in the region as a prelude to attacking Iraq from the north as well as from Saudi Arabia in the south, hence the veto.
France’s implacable opposition to Bush’s war plans might seem heroic (lucrative trade deals with Saddam not withstanding) if it wasn’t for the fact that French companies are more than happy to help Turkey build a series of dams across the Tigris and Euphrates rivers which threaten to siphon off water vital to Iraq. A reduced water supply will have a more devastating effect on Iraq’s population than any “collateral damage” should Gulf War II go ahead.
Politicians – doncha just love ‘em?
Editor's note: I don't know what the Yanks are complaining about anyhow. France gave them that stupid big statue they've got in New York harbour after the Second World War, didn't they? Pity they didn't give the American people genuine liberation to go along with it...stands back and waits for the cries of 'Ignorant Limey...you owe us big time too for saving your British butts, God bless us...' from the American faction.
