Putting the Americans and the Iranians scornfully in the same basket,
Dominique Dhombres sniffs that the "serious matter" is one
which represents a true danger for the other inhabitants of the larger world.
This, of course, is only something that the more-lucid-than-thou French would understand. The Le Monde writer (whom
we have met before) proceeds to damn "this puerile game", to compare the conflict variously to a "school playground" and to a "saloon" fistfight (bring out the cowboy caricature anytime you're at a loss for scornful imagery), to tch-tch "this worrisome childishness", and to state that the hostilities were opened by none other than the
American vice-president, Dick Cheney.
This brings us to a book review of a book by George W Bush's ambassador to the European Union between 2001 and 2005. What
Thomas Ferenczi finds deplorable in
Rockwell A Schnabel's
Europe-United States: A Common Future is that (drum roll): "incomprehension remains."
One could have imagined that in the name of appeasement of the quarrels between Europe and the United States … Mr Schnabel would have taken a step towards the "Euro-Gaullist" theses and tried at least to understand the motivations. No, he remains firmly entrenched in his position.
How about this,
Monsieur Ferenczi (and
Monsieur Dhombres): How about trying a little understanding for Uncle Sam's motivations,
de temps en temps? Hm? How about, in the name of appeasing quarrels, taking a step towards
les positions américaines? Instead of always skewering, caricaturing, and pooh-poohing them beyond recognition?
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