The soft underbelly	Le ventre mou
Old, worn out, and tired. Zeropa in the sights of Al Qaeda as France awaits the return of wayward Levallois scum.	Vieillie, usée, fatiguée. La Zéropa dans la ligne de mire de Al-Qaida tandis que la France attend le retour des raclures des chiottes Levalloises.

'We must … go out and meet the enemy before he reaches our shores. We must defeat him before he attacks us, before our cities are laid to waste'

David Stout:

In robustly defending his own foreign policy before a nation of skeptics, [George W] Bush invoked the memory of Mackenzie King, Canada's prime minister during World War II.

"Of course, we should protect our coasts and strengthen our ports and cities against attack," Mr. Bush said, recalling King's words. "The prime minister went on to say, 'We must also go out and meet the enemy before he reaches our shores. We must defeat him before he attacks us, before our cities are laid to waste.' "

What we should by now expect from France (or Chirac) is the notion that if it's not a bribe, it's not a deal

What we should by now expect from France (or Jacques Chirac), writes Denis Boyles, is the notion that if it's not a bribe, it's not a deal. "It would never occur to Chirac that what Tony Blair got in exchange for liberating Iraq had nothing to do with the U.S. What Blair got was what he thought he'd get — the knowledge that he had done the right thing for his own country and for others. What an unsophisticated way to see the world, non? A French leader would never say, 'Either you are with us, or you're against us'. In French, it translates like this: 'Either you give us something, or we are against you'."

Here is the full text from National Review (thanks to Gregory), in which perhaps the most important single sentence is the one that blows away that supposedly filled-with-meaning "fact" that with all those people and nations who are loudly denouncing its policies, Uncle Sam ought to be less arrogant/more humble and pay attention — "Being the sole superpower is like being the only rich guy in a town full of paupers: You can't walk down the street without getting hassled by somebody who wants something for nothing."

…when Chirac spoke on the eve of his visit to Tony Blair to celebrate, more than six months late, the centenary of the Entente Cordiale (a French term meaning "you may not shoot us while we sabotage you"), it was with typical Gallic arrogance. In a widely publicized interview with the Times, Chirac ridiculed Blair's support of the war in Iraq:

I said then to Tony Blair: 'You absolutely have to obtain something in exchange for your support.' Well, Britain gave its support but I did not see much in return. I am not sure that it is in the nature of our American friends at the moment to return favours systematically.

That, of course, is exactly what we should by now expect from Chirac — the notion that if it's not a bribe, it's not a deal. It would never occur to Chirac that what Blair got in exchange for liberating Iraq had nothing to do with the U.S. What Blair got was what he thought he'd get — the knowledge that he had done the right thing for his own country and for others.

What an unsophisticated way to see the world, non? A French leader would never say, "Either you are with us, or you're against us." In French, it translates like this: "Either you give us something, or we are against you." Chirac's remark explains a great deal about the deep, permanent animosity between the U.S. and France. And thanks in part to Jacques' cracks, it's now an antagonism George W. Bush overlooks at his peril.

This isn't Title IX or affirmative action or any of the other goofy things that Bush can shrug off because he knows his base isn't going anywhere. This is about who we are — and who Chirac is. When Bush said, "Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists," he said something that most Americans, Red and Blue, felt was absolutely true. And because it's true, it's immutable. The more nuance you add to that simple statement, the more false it becomes.

In making the choice clear, Bush gave Chirac and Schröder and their ilk the opportunity to do the right thing for their own countries and for others. But the French refused not only because they believe there's nothing in it for them, but also because they really are against us — as Le Figaro reports (and … as this BBC dispatch summarizes). Besides, as the vast U.N. scandal shows, France was already getting a great deal in exchange for its support of Saddam.

Being the sole superpower is like being the only rich guy in a town full of paupers: You can't walk down the street without getting hassled by somebody who wants something for nothing. It hasn't escaped Chirac's understanding that every demand he and Schröder make comes at the expense of America's national interests. Chirac and the other anti-American Europeans seem to think national interests are something we should surrender in exchange for — what? Being liked? In a speech in London on Thursday … Chirac once again called for a world order in which "no state could act independently," meaning, in practice, no state except France, of course.

Trying to insult the U.S. into acquiescing to some grand, egomaniacal French ambition is a fool's errand. Chirac is definitely the man for the job. According to the Guardian, Chirac told Blair, "Who is right or wrong, history will tell." Jacques, Petain couldn't have said it better, thank you very much.

More Evidence of European Sophistication

"I have learned a lots of things" exclaims Thomas, while his teacher says "the exhibit is very well conceived. It is interactive and answers the kids' preoccupations." The French élite knows what good and educational exhibits the taxpayers' money goes to pay for… (Then again, the origin, it canot be denied, is American…)

Suggestion: Turn your speakers on as high as possible, and while your spouse makes dinner or watches TV, turn your curser in a continuous circling motion…

Is the Ba'ath Party Being Resurrected on French Soil?

According to Memri,

the Ba'th's propaganda machine appears to have found a new abode in Paris, France, whence threats to the U.S. are issued regularly … Not surprisingly, the Ba'thist propagandists use the word "resistance" (in French, "la résistance") to underscore the association with the struggle against the Nazi occupation of France during WWII.

The resurrection of the Ba'th Party on French soil was further strengthened by France's proposal that representatives of "la resistance" should participate in any future conference that will be convened to discuss the future of Iraq. This position was clearly stated by Michel Barnier, the French Foreign Minister … In the interview, Mr. Barnier called for a political process in Iraq that would include "a number of groups and people who have today opted for the path of resistance through the use of weapons."

…Given that most of the [National Council for the Iraqi Resistance's] publications are issued through Yahoo France, one might suspect that most of the production is done in that country.

(Thanks to Carine's significant other)

Václav Havel for UN Secretary General

Quoting from a recent piece Václav Havel wrote, Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds echoes Dan McLaughlin's call for the former Czech dissi-president to replace Kofi Annan (who has received the "full support" of Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schröder) as the UN's secretary-general…

We at ¡No Pasarán! second Instapundit…

"The French are not trusted members of the coalition and their presence must serve some grand political objective that involves having it both ways"

Maybe part of the reason for Iyad Allawi's snub had to do with events older than Paris's veto threat at the UN in 2003:

After the "odd behavoiur" and "strange" and "mysterious" movements of French aircraft and frigates during the blockade of Iraq in 1997, Belmont Club reports, the Nimitz Task Force concluded that the French were tracking them, supposedly, on behalf of Saddam Hussein:

It would be naive to assume that the French, with their close and sympathetic ties to Iraq, are not collecting intelligence against their coalition partners. What is not known is how much of this information finds its way to Baghdad. One thing is certain, however.The French are not trusted members of the coalition and their presence must serve some grand political objective in Paris that involves having it both ways — appearing the concerned contributor to a collective-security arrangement while at the same time working to undermine that arrangement's very raison d'être.

Lieutenant Commander William R. Bray, U.S.N
Five Fleets: Around the World with the Nimitz
Proceedings, November 1998

Iraq's Premier Snubs the Leader of the "Peace Camp"

But who cares? Remember, Jacques Chirac has Hu, Mugabe, Kaddhafi, and the Mullahs to talk to and conduct business with, so that is nothing to worry about. And you know what is important in this world: as long as they are not Uncle Sam's allies (or caniches, I should call them), who cares if they conduct a policy of mass murder among their own people?…

The AFP:

Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi headed Wednesday to Germany and Russia, two countries that opposed last year's invasion, but France — which spearheaded criticism of the US-led war — has been kept off the tour.

… Allawi showed no interest in paying a visit to France, the other member of the trio of leading powers that opposed the invasion.

Allawi was irked by French calls to include Iraqi opposition groups in the international conference on the country's future which Egypt hosted last week in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

It was also displeased at France's call for the conference to discuss a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops.

French President Jacques Chirac had snubbed Allawi at a European summit in Brussels a month ago, following perceived criticism of Paris by the premier, while inviting Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar to Paris.

An editorial in the newspaper of Allawi's Iraqi National Accord party recently fuelled tensions between the two governments.

The article said that after refusing to send troops to Iraq, France had only itself to blame for the kidnapping of French reporters Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, who were abducted by an Islamist organisation in August.

What a Shame that the Right to Abortion in America Is Being Undermined by a Backwards President and His Radical Pro-Life Supporters…

…and thank goodness the situation is better, far better, in forward-looking, humanistic, tolerant, visionary, reasonable France with the government's ever-miraculous social security system…

(Was that "three to four weeks" that Maïté Albagly said?…)

Churchill on Jokes, Lies, Pigs, POWs, Politicians, Fanatics, Stumbles, and When to Fight

Today is the birthday of Winston Churchill, the icon (1874-1965) who said

A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.

A joke is a very serious thing.

A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

A politician needs the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn't happen.

A prisoner of war is a man who tries to kill you and fails, and then asks you not to kill him.

Advertising nourishes the consuming power of men. It sets up before a man the goal of a better home, better clothing, better food for himself and his family. It spurs individual exertion and greater production.

Air power can either paralyze the enemy's military action or compel him to devote to the defense of his bases and communications a share of his straitened resources far greater that what we need in the attack.

All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.

I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.

The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.

Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.

That one deserves to appear in French:

Les hommes trébuchent parfois sur la vérité, mais la plupart se redressent et passent vite leur chemin comme si rien ne leur était arrivé.

Does the following apply to the Iraq war, perchance?…

If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a small chance of survival. There may even be a worse case: you may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.

Check out the Justin D. Lyons editorial
Remembering Winston Churchill
at the Ashbrook center

Not to Be Shown on French TV, ce n'est que de la propagande…

Those crowds look dangerous…

(Merci à Vik)

The Chronic Nature of French Hostility to the U.S. Spreads to the Army

Much has been made, over the years (both within France and abroad), as to how France's command economy and interventionist system resemble the society in the defunct Soviet Union. But according to Robert Novak, it would seem that now, even the French army is acquiring something akin to Soviet-style political officers, and that some people in charge are more interested in indoctrination than in the military's traditional role (all instances of emphasis mine)…

U.S. diplomats here respond to Jacques Chirac's continued Yankee-bashing following George W. Bush's re-election by saying the French president is out of step with his people, who are not nearly that anti-American. But thoughtful Frenchmen believe President Chirac is mining a deep vein of sentiment among fellow citizens that transcends President Bush.

During a week in Paris, I encountered none of the rudeness I had been warned to expect because of my nationality. However, the question goes beyond amenities to visitors. One French intellectual described anti-Americanism to me as "a cancer that is sweeping across the country." It may not be as deadly as cancer, but it surely is not healthy for France.

The chronic nature of French hostility toward the United States contradicts claims by Bush's domestic critics that his unilateral policies caused deterioration of Franco-American relations. It is less the U.S. with a French problem than France burdened with a serious American problem.

On his recent visit to London, Chirac pressed for "multipolarity": a return to international rivalries that produced the carnage of the 20th century. He also suggested there was no point trying to repair his country's difficulties with Washington and taunted British Prime Minister Tony Blair because "our American friends" do not "pay back favors." Mocking Donald Rumsfeld's designation of France as "Old Europe," he pretended not to remember the secretary of defense's name and referred to him, sarcastically, as "that nice guy of America."

State Department officials thought Chirac would reach out to Washington once Bush was re-elected, and U.S. diplomats here say he has misread French opinion. On the contrary, playing the anti-American card is seen in political circles here as Chirac's strongest position as he prepares to run for a third five-year term in 2007. He is unpopular, detested by the Left and considered an apostate on the Right, but may survive by bashing Uncle Sam.

The impression by U.S. officials that Chirac is going too far in chiding the Americans may be based on anecdotal evidence, such as my encounter with a Paris kiosk owner from whom I bought a newspaper. "Oh, we just love Americans," he beamed as he gave me a free piece of chocolate candy to go with the International Herald Tribune, "it's Bush we hate."

However, the problem goes much deeper than Bush or the 80 percent election preference for John Kerry in French polls. A writer here told me of his 19-year-old daughter attending a one-day French army briefing, mandatory after conscription was abolished. The last four hours consisted of a harangue on U.S. foreign policy, especially in Iraq. That war was described as a plot by American capitalists to cheat Iraqis out of their oil in a lecture that would have done justice to a conspiracy-minded Internet blogger.

U.S. officials say Charles de Gaulle at least gave the U.S. help when needed and so is unlike the latter-day Gaullist Chirac. Actually, de Gaulle was an inconstant ally in the Cold War who often sided with the Soviet Union in return for soft treatment by the then powerful French Communist Party.

Yet, the attitude Chirac reflects cannot be blamed on de Gaulle. The U.S. may have replaced Britain, which for centuries was "Perfidious Albion" to the French. Jean-Claude Casanova, editor of Commentaire (France's leading intellectual quarterly) sees France's "naive superiority" toward the Americans.

France is burdened with problems distant from American shores. The economy is stagnant, and the replacement of the franc by the euro has meant higher prices but not higher wages. Last Thursday, some 50,000 railroad employees poured into Paris to protest insufficient new hiring. The civil service dominates the government, which suffocates the powerless National Assembly. Michel Gurfinkel, editor of a small newsweekly, told me the press is "free but not independent" of the government.

The lone potential breath of fresh air viewed by internal critics is flamboyant populist Nicolas Sarkozy, who is resigning as finance minister to seek leadership of France's governing party and then perhaps run for president. Although Sarkozy is unabashedly pro-American, it has not hurt him so far. But his opponent is likely to be Jacques Chirac, still waving the bloody American shirt and still hard to beat.

(Merci to GS)

Celebrating Napoleon Is Hardly PC at a Time When France Likes to Play the Good European

Boris Bachorz reports that

France celebrates the 200th anniversary of Napoleon Bonaparte's coronation this week with a mix of embarrassment and fascination for a legend that weighs heavy, especially with its European partners.

Unlike the pomp and ceremony that marked the 200th anniversary in 1989 of the French Revolution, France's approach to the bicentennial of Bonaparte's coronation on December 2 is more measured for this far less consensual chapter of its history.  

"The republic (of France) is still embarrassed by Napoleon. It owes him so much that it dares not speak about. It's too proud and too weak at the same time to do so," said Steven Englund, a US historian living in France. 

Indeed, events to mark the coronation of the diminutive emperor will barely leave the confines of the museums.  

… Historians point to a problem Napoleon poses for today's French institutions two centuries on: he may have conquered half of Europe, centralised and strengthened France and given it the civil code and the central bank, but he also led his country and others into bloody battles that cost hundreds of thousands of lives.  

For Englund, modern-day France, far removed from ideas of world grandeur, remains mostly indifferent and uncomprehending of this rich though contrasting period of history.  

He must be kidding! Better to read Jacques Myards' comments below…

After all, celebrating the Corsican who conquered half of Europe is hardly politically correct at a time when France likes to play the good European in the 25-nation bloc.

"Louis XIV, Napoleon, de Gaulle — all three display in their way French imperialism, synonym for arrogance and domination," according to historian Annie Jourdan, author of a book on myths and legends about Napoleon.  

In the countries he occupied, Napoleon provoked "a heightened love of the homeland, and above all a new mistrust towards France which reawakens today every time a French head of state acts without caring about European public opinion," Jourdan said.  

Yet far from the museums, institutes and auction rooms marking the 200th anniversary of the emperor's coronation, hundreds of French people still live in Napoleon's shadow.  

Napoleon expert Jean Tulard, author of about 40 historical works about the emperor, said he detected a degree of nostalgia.  

Nostalgia or not, Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin chose Napoleon as the focus of a book he penned in 2002. But Nicolas Sarkozy, centre-right party leader and rival of de Villepin, would most like to resemble "Bonaparte without Napoleon", according to his wife Cecilia.  

Meanwhile Jacques Myard, the mayor of Maisons-Laffitte, an upmarket suburb west of Paris, commented: "This greatness, we are capable of having it again through movement and ideas that make the world act."  

Myard, who erected a Napoleon-inspired statue last month, referred to the diplomatic effort initiated by France against last year's US-led invasion of Iraq.  

On a perhaps more mundane level, antiques dealer Christian Fabre said that he saw signs of a rebirth in interest. "The Napoleon cult is coming back."  …

Related AFP story: Napoleon, a towering self-promoter — Experts believe that Napoleon, the diminutive emperor whose legacy still provokes unease and fascination in France, was probably the first person in history to use the tool of mass propaganda on such a scale…

"Enormous Manipulation" in the Media: Uncovering the True Liars

I don't believe in spontaneous demonstrations

We told the truth — it was others who lied and engaged in manipulation

José Maria Aznar

Related to the numerous (innumerable) charges against members of the coalition of the willing (Dubya, Tony Blair, etc) as having lied and, more generally, being little more than dishonest liars, Franco Aleman covered José María Aznar's testimony before the parliamentary commission investigating the March 11 terrorist attack. (Barcepundit earlier explained how it's the Socialist party, now in power but in opposition at the time, who didn't want Aznar to testify, even though he was the prime minister on that day!) Here FA quotes state-owned news agency Efe:

"It was others who lied," Aznar charged, adding that the 13 March demonstrations against his party had constituted "a serious alteration of the laws of the electoral game."

Spanish electoral law demands a 'day of reflection' the day before a general election without any campaigning.

Aznar said that there had been "enormous manipulation" in the media, particularly Cadena Ser radio, traditionally close to the Socialist Party (PSOE), following the attacks and that his government had faced "aggresssive, sectarian, anti-democratic and false" claims.

Aznar insisted the government had been "quick to inform (the electorate) transparently."

"The smoking gun of a supposed lie by the government which I led ... has not appeared. We told the truth as far as we knew it," Aznar insisted.

And here is how the press covered the story… (Barcapundit encourages you to read IberianNotes, by the way…)

"I didn't understand why the Americans took so long to free me"

The Syrian driver of journalists Christian Chesnot et Georges Malbrunot waxes eloquently about their kidnappers. "Their situation isn't that bad"…

The only people Mohammed Al-Joundi has critical words for are the Americans (the people who happened, just happened, to free him).

Good sense of perspective, Al-Joundi. Good sense of perspective…

Note: The quote by the former member of the Ba'ath party concerns his being detained for five days after being found by the American army, not his being detained for almost three months by what he calls the "resistants"…

Is There a Peace Truce Between France's Government and Iraq's Terrorists?, Asks a Citizen of Baghdad

Omar on Iraq the Model:

It's been usual for foreigners (diplomats, workers, journalists... etc) in Iraq to take lots of security precautions when they move around in Baghdad or some other Iraqi cities; they try to hide anything that might reveal their identities and I even noticed that they began to choose ordinary cars-from the kinds that many Iraqis own instead of fancy new cars- for use in their rides to avoid attracting attention.

This is of course as a result of the kidnappings and various attacks that targeted foreigners in Iraq regardless of the nature of their presence here. This created the feeling that every foreigner walking on the streets is an easy target for direct gunfire or for kidnapping (for money or to be beheaded later). This even included Arabs and Arab firms and even Iraqis working in Arab firms. In short, anyone who is here to do something that might be good for Iraq.

One group of foreigners really caught my attention by ignoring all the dangers and moving in the streets of Baghdad showing their identity so clearly.

One might think that this group of people did so because they are very bold but actually I don't think this is true for this case. Why? Because simply they were French.
Yesterday, I saw a single car with the words "FRENCH EMBASSY" written in Arabic on the windshield moving in Karrada crowded neighborhood in broad daylight. They didn't seem to be in a hurry and were driving slowly unlike other foreigners who try to drive as fast as possible to avoid being tracked and chased.

It seems that the French are not afraid of the terrorists. Were they excluded from the terrorists' targets list for some reason? Is there a peace truce between them? Did we miss something here? Because the French are moving freely and saying for the terrorists:
"Hey, it's us, so don't mistake us for your enemies, the other foreigners! And we are not just ordinary French. We are the French government! And we are certainly not doing something good for Iraq, so relax!"
This may explain why no one is anymore worried about the two French journalists; they're in friendly hands!

(Shookhran to Gregory)

Is There a Peace Truce Between France's Government and Iraq's Terrorists?, Asks a Citizen of Baghdad

Omar on Iraq the Model:

It's been usual for foreigners (diplomats, workers, journalists... etc) in Iraq to take lots of security precautions when they move around in Baghdad or some other Iraqi cities; they try to hide anything that might reveal their identities and I even noticed that they began to choose ordinary cars-from the kinds that many Iraqis own instead of fancy new cars- for use in their rides to avoid attracting attention.

This is of course as a result of the kidnappings and various attacks that targeted foreigners in Iraq regardless of the nature of their presence here. This created the feeling that every foreigner walking on the streets is an easy target for direct gunfire or for kidnapping (for money or to be beheaded later). This even included Arabs and Arab firms and even Iraqis working in Arab firms. In short, anyone who is here to do something that might be good for Iraq.

One group of foreigners really caught my attention by ignoring all the dangers and moving in the streets of Baghdad showing their identity so clearly.

One might think that this group of people did so because they are very bold but actually I don't think this is true for this case. Why? Because simply they were French.
Yesterday, I saw a single car with the words "FRENCH EMBASSY" written in Arabic on the windshield moving in Karrada crowded neighborhood in broad daylight. They didn't seem to be in a hurry and were driving slowly unlike other foreigners who try to drive as fast as possible to avoid being tracked and chased.

It seems that the French are not afraid of the terrorists. Were they excluded from the terrorists' targets list for some reason? Is there a peace truce between them? Did we miss something here? Because the French are moving freely and saying for the terrorists:
"Hey, it's us, so don't mistake us for your enemies, the other foreigners! And we are not just ordinary French. We are the French government! And we are certainly not doing something good for Iraq, so relax!"
This may explain why no one is anymore worried about the two French journalists; they're in friendly hands!

(Shookhran to Gregory)

The Saber-Rattling and the Blood-Letting in the Middle East Is All America's Fault!

It was all for nought, and a bit of dialog and understanding would have solved (or would solve) everything:

There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and there are no WMDs in Iran…

Iraq was not a threat and Iran is not a threat…

We should have listened to what Baghdad was telling us, and we should listen to what Tehran is telling us…

We should take at face value the claims of Saddam Hussein and we should take at face value the claims of the Mullahs…

Update: 300 men line up in Tehran to fill out forms…

BNP Paribas Received Hundreds of Millions of Dollars While Saddam Was Conducting "the Largest Financial Swindle in History"

This cannot be true… It simply can not! Remember, Europe shelters the wise and principled humanitarians, while the tragedy of the thousands of Iraqi children suffering and dying is the fault of the greedy and comtemptible Americans!

The AFP:

France's BNP Paribas received hundreds of millions of dollars from the scandal-plagued UN Oil-for-Food program in Iraq, apparently while ignoring rampant abuses in the program, a top US lawmaker charged.

"There are indications that the bank may have been noncompliant in administering the Oil-for-Food program," said Henry Hyde, chairman of the House of Representatives' International Relations Committee.

"No one seemed to be in charge of watching Saddam Hussein while he and his government were conducting perhaps the largest financial swindle in history," said Hyde, citing findings of a probe by his committee into abuses within the UN program.

… The UN aid program, which ran from December 1996 until November 2003, allowed Saddam Hussein's regime to ease the burden of international sanctions by selling oil to buy humanitarian supplies.

But critics say the Iraqi dictator abused the program by offering vouchers for oil as bribes to hundreds of officials from different countries, partly in a bid to get the sanctions overturned.

Hyde alleged that funds from the program were used to buy influence and weapons abroad, among numerous abuses.

"At other times, payments may have been authorized by BNP to third parties, separate from the originally intended recipient of the Letter of Credit," he said.

The Republican chairman added: "If true, these possible banking lapses may have facilitated Saddam Hussein's manipulation and corruption of the program.

Hyde said the scam, which netted Saddam billions of dollars, required the complicity of "scores of accomplices around the world."

"As we understand, BNP received more than 700 million dollars in fees over the life of the Oil-for-Food program," said Hyde.

Representative Henry Bonilla said at a press conference that panel chief Paul Volcker has agreed to make findings from his inquiry into the now-defunct Oil-for-Food program available to US lawmakers in January …

Update: See? Turns out that the earlier information implicating Kofi Annan's son in the UN oil-for-food scandal was all wrong! We knew that nobody in the "peace camp" could have — wait a minute!

William Blake on the Truth and Lies

Today is the birthday of William Blake, the English Poet (1757-1827) who said

Always be ready to speak your mind, and a base man will avoid you.

As a man is, so he sees. As the eye is formed, such are its powers.

And, last but not least:

A truth that's told with bad intent
beats all the lies you can invent

The Fundamentals of Soccer

No wonder Douglas likes the game so much…

The Best Political Cartoons of the Year

From the most popular cartoon web site on the web…

What Chirac & Co. Were Hoping For in a Kerry Presidency

This Amir Taheri column is a few weeks old, but still…

The European elites [spent much time] dreaming about how a President Kerry would ratify the Kyoto accords, sign on to the International Criminal Court, cut and run in Iraq, send flowers to Yasser Arafat and, perhaps, open a dialogue with Osama bin Laden. When it became clear that the American voters wanted none of that, the chattering classes in Europe were left speechless.

…Within the European Union only France, Belgium and Greece had been active on the anti-American front, at least until [the] election. All three governments had made a strategic choice of systematically opposing Bush policies in the hope that a Kerry administration would adopt substantial parts of their foreign policies. … The second Bush administration should give them a chance to prove that they have changed course.

… Chirac should be invited to review his policies on a range of other issues, including Iran's nuclear ambitions. A good part of Tehran's current defiant stance on the issue of uranium enrichment is based on the assumption that Chirac will sabotage any U.S. attempt at taking the issue to the Security Council.

The Islamic Republic is not the only member of the "Axis of Evil" to have played the Europeans against America. Syria, too, has counted on support from Paris to escape punishment for its illegal military presence in Lebanon.

(A belated thank you to Gregory)

Bruce Lee on Limits, Systems, Circumstances, and Expectations

Yesterday was the birthday of Bruce Lee, the martial artist and actor (1940-1973) whose Oriental philosophy did not seem to leave much room for the type of state-interventionist theories we hear in Europe these days…

Man, the living creature, the creating individual, is always more important than any established style or system.

I'm not in this world to live up to your expectations and you're not in this world to live up to mine.

If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.

Circumstances hell! I make circumstances!

Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one's potential.

Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable.

Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.

Thank you…

…America