I found some thing that is intreeging.I wanted to share it with you all.Please know this dos not reflect my personal beleves or reflect my feelings a bout france or eroupe.Just some thing i found and wanted to get your take on this and your opionons.
By Steven Stalinsky
FrontPageMagazine.com | December 20, 2004
Over the past few years, France has won the reputation as being the leading anti-American voice of the Western world. Of late, news has been trickling out of France which suggests that President Chirac has taken his opposition to the U.S. to a new level. One example includes allowing the pro-Ba’th pro-Saddam group "La Resistance" to operate out of Paris. The group’s main goal is to support killing U.S. troops in Iraq. (For more information visit comitesirak.free.fr . . .).
Another example of anti-Americanism occurred less than two weeks ago when the French government hosted Lebanese Parliamentarian Walid Jumblatt, Head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who enjoyed an unprecedented state visit to France. As Ahmad Al-Jarallah, Editor in Chief of the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassah, reported on December 4th, "Walid Jumblatt?[was] recently given a send-off befitting a state leader at the Elysee Palace by French President Jacques Chirac." According to the Lebanese Daily Star, "Jumblatt’s visit to the French capital was considered by some political figures as historic, and as bringing him merit on the regional and international levels."
This is significant because Jumblatt is known for his vehement anti-American statements and antagonistic stance toward the U.S. On November, 19, 2003, it was reported that the State Department cancelled Jumblatt’s diplomatic visa following revelations that he expressed regret that Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz was not killed in a missile attack during a visit to Baghdad.
More recently, Jumblatt gave an interview to the Arabic London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat on February 12, 2004, in which he said: "We are all happy when U.S. soldiers are killed [in Iraq] week in and week out. The killing of U.S. soldiers in Iraq is legitimate and obligatory." The Progressive Socialist Party leader has also said he felt "great joy" at the destruction of the U.S. Space Shuttle Columbia in 2002, because it carried an Israeli astronaut.
The Lebanese MP is also known for espousing conspiracy theories against the U.S. On April 28, 2004, he gave an interview to United Arab Emirate-based Al Arabiyya TV, in which he detailed how the U.S. was really behind September 11: "Who invented Osama bin Laden?! The Americans, the CIA invented him so they could fight the Soviets in Afghanistan together with some of the Arab regimes. Osama bin Laden is like a ghost, popping up when needed. This is my opinion."
Jumblatt was asked "Even 9/11?" and answered: "Even 9/11?Why didn’t the sirens go off when the four hijacked planes took off??The U.S. always needs an enemy?According to this plan or ideology of the born-again Christians who formed an alliance with Zionism – Islam is the monster, Islam is the target."
In addition to hating the U.S., Jumblatt has also spoke against the countries which have taken the lead in supporting the U.S. war on terror. Lebanon’s Daily Star published a February 3, 2003 article quoting him as saying that the true axis of evil is actually one of "oil and Jews," calling President George W. Bush a "mad emperor," and insulting British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar: "The oil axis is present in most of the U.S. administration, beginning with its president, vice-president, and top advisers, including [Condoleezza] Rice, who is oil-colored, while the axis of Jews is present with Paul Wolfowitz."
In the interview, Jumblatt described U.S. President Bush as someone who "considers himself God’s deputy on Earth, threatening and classifying the world [into different camps], and relying on his imperial power?How dangerous emperors are when they go mad? In the same axis we have the trustworthy servant, the imperial servant?pleased with himself and his idiotic laugh, his peacock appearance, none other than Tony Blair?Also joining this axis is the comprador Mussolini of the 21st century, the prime minister of Italy today, Silvio Berlusconi, who seems to want to renew the empire of the Caesars? To complete the picture, we have Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, the Spanish neo-rightist?Aznar and Blair spend a lot of time in front of the mirror every morning, it seems, so that their hair is parted perfectly?People who pay that much attention to their appearance are fascists by nature. Or they have psychological or sexual complexes."
The French government’s providing a hero’s welcome to Walid Jumblatt, a self-proclaimed enemy of the U.S., represents something far beyond what could be considered a simple diplomatic disagreement.
www.frontpagemag.com . . .
I personaly think its b.s but who knows now a days.
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9 Comments On Your take on this
oddone : you are cautious about this and you do well. I read or listen to the French news everyday, I work for the French homeland security around Paris, and yet didn’t know Jumblatt was even here. I don’t deny he was here of course, but describing this as an unprecedented state visit seems a little farfetched to me. But I might be wrong. What’s this Frontpagemag.com thing ? Is it some other neo-cons POS ? Always check the source.
Now, just a few (personal) comments :
1) everybody in today’s Arab world hates the US. Whether they are socialist, baathist, fundamentalist, justdontcarist, whether they come from the desert in Mauritania or a palace in Saudi Arabia, whether they drive a Porshe or a camel, believe me : they ALL hate America’s policy. So, it’s gonna be hard for you to find a good US-loving Arab, unless he owes everything he is to the CIA, or really loves the scenery in Dearborn MI.
2) France fights terrorism but allows freedom of speech, although to a lesser extent as the US or the UK. So, as long as Jumblatt isn’t wanted by a French or int’l court, and as long as he doesn’t pose a major threat to France, he can still spew whatever crap he likes.
3) I agree with Jumblatt 99,9 % with everything he says which is being quoted in the article about Chimp, Blair, Aznar et alii. Does that make me a criminal ?
4) And remember : just because Saddam was a baathist doesn’t mean baathism is nazi evil. I still believe baathism is a good thing to the Arab world since the Baath movement was built around the ideals of secularism, equality, socialism, nationalism, and tends to lean towards the West. I’d take baathism against saudi fundamentalism ANY DAY.
CRC
I looked at the source of this article you posted here. The website http://www.frontpagemagazine.com is a neo-con website devoted to all things Bush, ultra conservative, anti-foreign, etc. Therefore I doubt the integrity of this article. Jumblatt might or might not have visited France, that isn’t the point. The problem is the way this article is written. It’s so one-sided that I wouldn’t have even wasted my time posting it here.
If Jumblatt had said such terrible things about the USA, I’m certain you’d of heard about it on national news. The national broadcasters in the USA never miss an opportunity to slander France. Had this really occured the way the article stated, Bush would of made a public statement against Jumblatt and against France. Remember all the fuss about French headscarves in public schools? We here in the USA would not have known about it, if Bush hadn’t made a comment about that situation and about France. From then on, it was daily fodder for the national news broadcasters.
Had this really occured, this would of been a PR dream come true for the neo-conservatives, Bush and for the national USA media.
After doing a search of cnn.com lemonde.fr and reuters.com, (where I typed Walid Jumblatt into the reuters search engine), I will presume that this article is bogus, written only to inflame hatred against the French. I find NO mention of this incident in the major news organizations. The website comitesirak.free.fr is anti-American political propaganda, the type you’d expect from Iraqui people who’ve been invaded by Bush and the USA army. If THAT constitutes some sort of French treachery, an Iraqui website, then I guess the American media has nothing else to write about.
Let’s not forget the comitesirak.free.fr Quebec sister group. I guess you could say that the Canadians are anti-American, too and supporting terrorism, etc. because they also support these ideas through the website.
Does anybody here smell the same garbage I smell?
Just some random site that poped up in a google news search.I was bord looking for some news form difrent points of veiew.it sounds too much like bs to me to.lol
crc95/LVB: Oddone’s reference sure reads like neo-con stuff. I do remember seeing a TV news clip a week or so ago that mentioned (and showed) Chirac meeting with someone controversial. I can’t remember who the person was, however. Then again, the article may have been planted by someone trying to drive down the price of French wine. Donerail
donerail and others who love France: I just had with Christmas dinner a 1995 Medoc. It was absolutely wonderful to drink. It was given to us by somebody who came back from Paris and had bought it there.
It’s nice to have French connections
LaVieilleBranche: Let us all know what it was like to drive from New Jersey to Quebec City in a blizzard. A few bottles of vin rouge from Medoc sure would have helped with the trip. Donerail
donerail: as I stated earlier, I took an express jet to Quebec.
Pardon for the errors, my boyfriend has a French PC and it is hard to type on a different keyboard.
Also, the big kir I drank today may have something to do with my slurred fingers, as they are speaking for me now.
LaVielle…lucky You and your French connections. That wine would go so well at Sunday dinner when my relatives return from a Cruise of the Panama Canal. I used to bye White French Wine and type in chat rooms, but haven’t done that ina while…lol