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the G-man said:
With all due respect to Europe's "lack of patience" for Israel, we probably wouldn't have "needed" an Israel if the European leaderss hadn't caused, been complicit in, or tried to ignore, the wholesale slaughter of several million Jews approximately 60 years ago.




The difference between Europe and the US is that Europe has only participated in one war since WW2. I'd run out of fingers if I counted the number of wars the US has been in since then. If warmaking is an indicator of moral righteousness, then Europe wins hands down.

As for the Jews, we can counterbalnce that against the American Indian genocide, I suppose. As least the Europeanssupport a Jewish homeland. You guys have Indians stuck unemployed on reservations.

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And even when you factor alleged European anti-Semitism out of the equation there's still plenty of issues to take with this blind faith in Europe as a moral arbitrator of whether war with Iraq was justified.

Now comes reports out of Iraq that Saddam had bribed "about 270 Iraqi and foreign politicians, businessmen and journalists," including "senior French officials, the ruling parties of India and Bulgaria and even the Russian Orthodox Church....Among those accused were former French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua, former French U.N. Ambassador Bernard Merimee and Russian ultra-nationalist Vladimir "Mad Vlad" Zhirinovsky."

Again, I note this not to argue an inherent U.S. superiority, but to argue against an inherent European superiority, a blind acceptance among many on the left that a European viewpoint is automatically the correct one.



The European perspective was based on established Westphalian principles of respect for sovereignty. Right or wrong, its fundamental to diplomacy (the opposite is aggression and imperialism). The argument is that tyrants should be overthrown in the same way as tyrants were overthrown in the Philippines, Thailand etc. - by the people, not by external forces. I have my doubts about this. But its the established moral orthodoxy.

The Anglican Archbishop of Australia recently said something like understand the need to depose Saddam, but not understanding why 3000 civilians died in the effort.

At the end of the day, in the absence of WMDs, it was a war of aggression. The Europeans have had their fill of wars of aggression. Clearly the Bush adminstration, irrespective of the benefits, has not.

Pimping my site, again.

http://www.worldcomicbookreview.com