Europeans veto NATO move

Tell me how you feel. Really.

Does this really come as a surprise to anyone?

 

You know, I'm starting to think that some of this might be planned to get Iraq to comply.

The US plays bad cop because we have the biggest military, so we threaten to use it. The French, Germans, Belgians, Russians, et al then say "let the inspectors finish their jobs."

Saddam gets scared by the threat of force and finally comes clean. Seems like a winning solution to me. We can look like we're upset, France can say to the world "look, we've done something," and the Iraqis finally really submit to inspections and give up their weapons.

And best of all, war is avoided through diplomatic means.

Then again, maybe I'm giving the Bushies too much credit. I don't know if Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and Cheney understand the meaning of the word "restraint."

 

That's what I've been thinking too. Glassic good cop-bad cop.


Alex

 

don't get so excited. this was expected by everyone. it's just more stalling tactics.

 

The only danger is if Saddam sees through it, then you end up with a war => unpopular US, France looks silly, Russia loses its money and Blair suffers at the polls.

Hmm, I think I actually want war now, ;-)

 

i'm struggling to see how this varies from a normal day in politics.

 

It's different because Blair's approval ratings are at a record low, and the Labour Party is down to 32% in Scotland,

 

international penis envy.

 

Diddums.

Maybe you can borrow the Mewo chant. 'No one likes us. We don't care.'

 

The threat of force would be much more effective and 'scary' if France, Russia, and China were backing up the US position. If anything, the division gives Saddam the idea that he can play both sides off each other and string things along. That's a recipe for war, because the US has no intention of repeating the games played throughout the '90s.

The only slim chance of avoiding war is if everyone tells Iraq that the game is up, and that they must capitulate. I don't see that happening, especially if the idiotic French and Germans are looking for a way to let Saddam off the hook.

Hussein is going to play the game as long as he can, and in the end he will probably miscalculate. The French and Germans are making that more, rather than less, likely.

 

"...France looks silly..." They'll fill this obligation no matter what they do...........They are the French!!!

Lastort has is correct. This must be the thought from the Bush administration. One could hear it from Colin Powell this weekend on Meet The Press. He clearly put the onus on the UN. The US keeps up the war of words and keeps threatening with a military buildup all the while waiting for Iraq to crumble. They do nothing about North Korea and NK gets upset that there is no buildup to focus the need for food and oil there and they crumble too. I don't think George W is too bright, but they hopefully have this one pegged.

 

It is unfortunate that Turkey's legitimate defense needs aren't going to be meet. But they are caught in the middle of an epic pillow fight that we haven't seen since France pulled out of NATO in the 1960's.

 

i couldnt have said it any better my self. nice work

 

Bingo. Nice thought though.

 

I like by that philosophy....but then the whiney countries get on us for not paying attention to them (like there is some reason to)...

 

Hmmm, lets see here....youre wrong, wrong and wrong. Europe has disrespect for Turkey, and it hates haveing them in NATO. They consistently deny Turkey a chance to join the EU, but for what reason? Because they consider the EU to be a "christian" club not deserving of a Muslim state. However, Turkey is the most progressive Muslim state in the world, and has very strong ties to Europe, and to NATO. Mind you, the move they vetoed was simply a move to start planning for a defense, not actually to send money or materie'l!
By doing this, France, Germany, and Belgium have dishonored NATO's binding rule:to protect all of its members against a possible attack . This is yet a another slap in the face for the Alliance, and for Turkey as a democracy. To refuse to protect a member is simply unheard of. The vetoing countries will claim that by planning such a defense would "undermine" the peace process. The only way to secure peace is to prepare for war. I thought that this was a well known fact. NATO is a military alliance, and as such was trying to perform the role as a defender, and yet was shut down by some very sour members. A true shame this is

 

France pulled out of NATO in the '60s? Uh, wrong. The current members of NATO are:

Belgium, Canada, The Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, The United Kingdom, The United States

 

Duh! france pulled out but came back in as pretty much a junior member. it never contributes troops to a NATO action, but ut reaps the benefits of NATO. i cant believe you didnt know that he meant that france left, then came back in. he was simply citing a bad time in NATO's history

 

Utter bullshit.

The EU (or rather, Britain and France, with some tacit support from Germany) are reticent on the issue of Turkish membership of the EU because none of them want to open up the EU labour market to tens of millions of Turks, whose traditional high level of mobility in such terms makes their entry into the zone a real threat to domestic employment and (by extension, sadly) social stability. Immigration is a massive issue in the EU at the moment, making it easier for hordes of people who are currently outside the barriers by putting them inside those barriers is a no-no. It has foxtrot oscar to do with the chosen main religion in Turkey.

Even the (largely hypocritical) prevarications based on human rights and such rank ahead of religious issues in this instance.

 

There are many reasons for Europe not wanting Turkey in the EU:

Turkey Is not a european country. The vast majority of the country lies in Asia, but since this is a soccer web site we can play by UEFA rules.

Turkey is not a stable democracy- The last military coup was less than 3 years ago. Turkey is a military rule camoflaged behind democratic elections

Turkey´s human rights record is horrible

Turkey´s economy sucks

The turkish standard of living sucks and it will cost to much money helping them out when the EU also have to build up Eastern Europe- Last time i checked money didnt grow on trees.

Letting in Turkey now would be a trojan Horse. There are just to many things turkey needs to do before it is ready for the EU

 

France always remained a member of the
Atlantic alliance and contributed troops.
As seen here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/327457.stm