Jaw-jaw Binks
The folks at Libertarian Samizdata have relentlessly dissected this sophisticated article by Chris Patten in the Financial Times. I've just pulled out a couple of notable quotations, but it's definitely worth reading the whole thing.
The EU political class must stop talking about the US as if it were some kind of immature adolescent incapable of acting intelligently without the input of their wisdom. Apart from being downright rude and bad diplomacy, it reveals a profound ignorance. I don't know what goes on inside Patten's head but I can help feeling he has not grasped the degree to which Americans have been shocked and changed by September 11th. Get out of the Brussels bunker, Mr Patten, you are not doing yourself or anyone else a lot of favours right now.
Militarily crushing the entire political and military apparatus of Iran and Iraq would be pretty much an unmatchable way of 'supporting reform'. That is no more 'putting up shutters' than the manner in which the US and UK interacted with Nazi Germany. We did not remove the 'problem' of Auschwitz and Belsen by prevailing upon the Nazis to allow inspectors to visit. If Iran and Iraq do indeed pose a clear and present danger, then it must be made clear to them in no uncertain terms that such actions will lead the USA to pose a clear and present danger to them. Publicly calling them part of an 'axis of evil' seems to achieve that pretty well.Posted by Dr. Frank at February 15, 2002 04:36 PM | TrackBack