The Allies - Two weeks

The Allies - Two weeks ago, the leaders of eight European nations signed on with President Bush's views on Iraq. A correspondent on a discussion list to which I subscribe - a fellow who ridicules Bush at most turns - asked "So what next? Vanuatu will sign on, too?", implying that the eight nations were penny-ante banana (or borscht) republics.

They were the UK, Denmark, Poland, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Italy. As to their commitment to fighting terror - sorry, Ann Coulter - several of them have troops or ships in the Gulf and Afghanistan. (Trivia note: Believe it or not, Danish special forces not only participated, but have a very good reputation in these things).

Says George Will:

What is the pedigree of the idea that France, more than, say, the United Kingdom or Italy -- whose leaders visited the White House last week -- speaks for "Europe," more than do the eight nations whose leaders on Wednesday endorsed U.S. policy? (The combined population of Britain, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland is 232 million. The combined population of France and Germany is 143 million.) France has a population significantly smaller than, and shrinking relative to, the populations of, among many other nations, Vietnam and Egypt. France has a per capita GDP smaller than that of Denmark or Japan, among others. So why should France referee the game of nations?

Other things the media (and my friend on the other discussion group) ignored: while the media and the left obsess over French and German intransigence, both countries are shrinking - in population, economic clout within the EU and the world at large, militarily (although it's worth noting that German special forces were also in Afghanistan) and economic and political influence, while many of the newer countries - the Czechs, Poles and Hungarians - are dynamic, growing (admittedly from post-communist lows) and largely pro-US. I think it's also signficant that Hungary, Denmark, the Czechs, Italy and Spain, along with the UK, have governments that are farther to the right than Germany or France, led by parties that aggressively question the European Union's cant.

Posted by Mitch at February 2, 2003 09:09 AM