Monday, June 07, 2004
Chirac's history lesson
The "allies" exchange blows on the beaches of Normandy, when as the "Daily Telegraph" puts it, the French President Jacques Chirac "takes a swipe at US and Britain over Iraq war."
So Mr President, the "path of peace" is most definitely possible - but first you have to actually defeat evil. I do hope to live to see, 60 year from now, President of the United States and President of Iraq coming together in Baghdad to celebrate the anniversary of liberation of Iraq from Saddam Hussein's tyranny. If the President of Iraq at that time feels particularly forgiving, he (or she - wouldn't that be something?) might even invite the French President to join them - in the spirit of "reconciliation."
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"[I]n an apparent response to remarks by President Bush earlier in the day on the need for the allies to stick together, M Chirac pointedly recalled that it was the allied victory that led to the UN Charter...Memo to President Chirac: for the "path of peace" to be actually possible, Germany had to totally defeated militarily, forced into unconditional surrender, Nazism had to be weeded out, and democratic institutions revived and nurtured over decades. Even after all that, it's only 60 years after the fact that a German leader is invited for the first time to participate in commemorations.
"Speaking at the international ceremony, M Chirac cited his willingness to invite German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as a model for a peaceful world.
"He said: 'We hold up the example of Franco-German reconciliation, to show the world that hatred has no future, that a path to peace is always possible'."
So Mr President, the "path of peace" is most definitely possible - but first you have to actually defeat evil. I do hope to live to see, 60 year from now, President of the United States and President of Iraq coming together in Baghdad to celebrate the anniversary of liberation of Iraq from Saddam Hussein's tyranny. If the President of Iraq at that time feels particularly forgiving, he (or she - wouldn't that be something?) might even invite the French President to join them - in the spirit of "reconciliation."
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