Possumblog

Not in the clamor of the crowded street, not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng, but in ourselves, are triumph and defeat.--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

REDIRECT ALERT! (Scroll down past this mess if you're trying to read an archived post. Thanks. No, really, thanks.)

Due to my inability to control my temper and complacently accept continued silliness with not-quite-as-reliable-as-it-ought-to-be Blogger/Blogspot, your beloved Possumblog will now waddle across the Information Dirt Road and park its prehensile tail at http://possumblog.mu.nu.

This site will remain in place as a backup in case Munuvia gets hit by a bus or something, but I don't think they have as much trouble with this as some places do. ::cough::blogspot::cough:: So click here and adjust your links. I apologize for the inconvenience, but it's one of those things.

Tuesday, February 18, 2003

Keep diggin', Frenchmen...

We won't shut up, Mr Chirac, says East Europe

By Sean Maguire

WARSAW, Feb 18 (Reuters) - East European politicians accused French President Jacques Chirac on Tuesday of bully-boy tactics and rejected his demand to mute their strong backing for U.S. policy on Iraq.

"France has a right to its opinion and Poland has the right to decide what is good for it. France should respect that," Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Adam Rotfeld told public radio. "I would prefer if he expressed himself more politely."

Chirac on Monday lambasted east European states on track to join the European Union, saying they had been ill-behaved in backing Washington's determination to disarm Iraq, by force if necessary, and had missed "a great opportunity to shut up".

French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie backed her boss in Warsaw on Tuesday, telling her hosts unapologetically "it was better to keep silent when you don't know what's going on".

Well, poor child, bless her heart.

Only when the ex-communist states were full members did they have the right to take a position on European affairs, she said bluntly, suggesting they might be punished for their insolence when EU parliaments come to ratify their membership treaties.

And if there's ANYONE who knows insolence...

But the east Europeans said France was being unfair in criticising future EU countries for backing Washington when the bloc itself was deeply divided on how to rid Iraq of its alleged arsenal of weapons of deadly destruction.

"I don't understand why Chirac didn't criticise Italy, Spain, and Portugal who have the same opinion as us. I don't like that, and I think that such 'grading' of us is unjust," Slovak Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan said on local radio.

Hey, Mr. Kukan, just wait till they read this story and call you a stupid bohunk. Although that's probably already happened.

[...] One East European diplomat said Chirac had spoken in a tone that not even the Soviet Union would have used with its Warsaw Pact clients during its 40 year dominance of the region.

Well, there's a reason for that...

Former communist states have long been grateful to Washington for helping them throw off Moscow's dominance and for sponsoring their NATO entry drives. They had no qualms about openly backing the United States on Iraq, irritating Paris and Berlin.[...]

How dare they be grateful to a bunch of cowboy rubes!

Ahh, Europe.

posted by Terry at 12:24:00 PM

Comments: Post a Comment

HOME - ARCHIVES - E-Mail terryoglesby@gmail.com - The slow moving, omnivorous, prehensile-tailed marsupial of the web.

free hit counter Visits since 12/20/2001--
so what if they're mostly me!