European hawks
Well, not really hawks. But this is interesting, and I hope true:
In the Iran negotiations, however, it is France, implicitly supported by the UK and Germany, that is taking a tougher stance, advocating a longer timeline for the proposed agreement as well as stricter terms, while the Obama administration appears willing to settle for more generous terms in order to close the deal before the clock runs out. Suddenly it is the US that is from Venus and the Europeans are from Mars, to use the imagery of earlier debates…
First: Geography is a non-negotiable difference between Washington and the Western European capitals. Iranian nuclear capability combined with its growing ballistic missile arsenal is a threat more immediate to Europe than to the US…
Second: The pending deal with Iran, which ultimately will pave the way to an Iranian nuclear capacity, contributes to the on-going erosion of the non-proliferation agenda. This process has to be viewed in the context of the fate of Ukraine…
Third: At stake is not only a strategic competition between nation-states but also the threat posed by Islamist terrorism. England and France have both been victims of significant domestic terrorism, and both face the potential of ongoing radicalization and violence from fighters returning from the Middle East…
Fourth: The threat of a nuclear Iran emerging as the hegemonic power in the region has generated profound concern in the Arab world, which rebounds back to Europe, particularly with regard to the long-standing French ambition to maintain and expand Arab partnerships…
Fifth: European self-interest””both in the sense of the needs of the European Union as a whole and the national interests of the major European nation-states””emerges as a significant factor in international affairs, the more Washington pursues policies designed to reduce American leadership around the world…
Sixth: Domestic politics are pushing in different directions on both sides of the Atlantic…any appearance of knuckling under to demands from Washington would only prove to be a liability for European politicians.
The tone of the article is hushed and highly respectful of Obama, as though the policies he’s pursuing reflect some decision by the US rather than some decision by Obama and his handmaiden Kerry. But I’m quoting it because it offers at least a smidgeon of hope that Europe may hold Obama back from implementing his plans, a possibility I find intensely ironic.
That sixth point in the article also mentions that Obama wants a legacy and time is running out for him on that, but “in contrast, in Europe, no leader is under any time pressure to sign anytime soon.”
That kind of personal calculation is something every Chicago politician can understand. Must be burning Obama.
Oh, no! Our foreign policy position is so bad that the French are talking tougher.
When you have less spine than the French you are scientifically classified an invertebrate.
The French are better than they usually get credit for. Their leaders generally suck. But when they don’t, the rank and file become downright scary.
The last time the French had a decent leader, Moscow ended up burned to the ground.
(of course, the career of the man responsible came to an end shortly afterwards…)
junior,
The French fought WW1 pretty well, too.
The French are for France, even their leftists. We can not say the same for the American leftists, they are against America.
I get the impression from what has been leaking about the Iran negotiations that the deal has a lot of fine detail and faith and trust that the Iranians will do what they agree to do.
Given how little regard Obama has for the fine details of what he’s negotiated here in the US – I mean he does what he wants regardless of what the agreement or law says – why does he believe the Iranians will hold any agreement with any more regard than he does for such things?
I would love to see the House and Senate pass sanctions with a veto-proof majority. That will put a nice stamp on Obama’s failed ME record.
I hate to say this, but a rare positive unintended consequence of Obama gross incompetence might be that European’s are starting to grow some spine?
Mind you if that is true, and I’m not sure it is, that would be the only good thing about it. And that would be well out weighed by all the bad things in the great cosmic scale.
Well said, parker @7:58 pm.
“…as though the policies he’s pursuing reflect some decision by the US rather than some decision by Obama and his handmaiden Kerry.”
I’m getting a little tired of being lumped in with these losers. Obama isn’t my president.
It would appear that Europeans are reclaiming an active role in securing their interests. They are also implicitly acknowledging a primary interest in their hemisphere. There are plenty of overlapping and even convergent interests with American parties, but the Europeans have a larger stake in their immediate surrounding.
As for left-wing Europeans, it seems unlikely that they have forsaken the dream to marginalize and neutralize their native competitors through open immigration and pro-choice policies. The unassimilated immigrants and their appointed leaders contribute significantly to establishing their moral legitimacy and inordinate leverage to exploit their fellow countrymen.
Maybe–I speak facetiously–this is a lesson devised to demonstrate what happens when you don’t have a cowboy in the White House.
Clever.
So, don’t do it again guys.
Think Bush and Obama will be having a beer and laughing about this in a couple of years?
Me either. It’s just random. Or it’s karma.
“The French are for France, even their leftists. We can not say the same for the American leftists, they are against America.”
parker here has made a very intelligent, important point.
Had to grin(morbidly..)at the Mars/Venus metaphor. Not yet ready to accept my country becoming Venusian under Obam-Bam…But, God knows, HE is from Metro-Venus as are his swooning airheads and(Thank You, Rush!!)the Chickafication of America.
The world is in Islamist Flames and Mr. Golf Cart is limp of wrist(and other parts), absent of resolve, appeaser extraordinaire, race hustling snake-oiler and moral coward.
Let’s elect Hillary for a fat follow-up, shall we??
They got cowboy Bush one time. Now they are getting the “peace admiral” they wanted to elect. American elections should be open to the world, after all, given how Europeans think American policies affect them.
That’s not really going to make America less of a problem on the block.
French pols have invited in Muslim invaders to re demographic the local population, ushering in an era of peace, equality, and fraternity. But whether they are part of the Leftist alliance in the Euro theater or whether they are using foreign policy to prop up their domestic power bloc, is an interesting question.