In-Depth Article on EU 25

The Economist has an in-depth article on the new Europe.

Makes me wanna holler

Blacks are the Victims of Marginalization in France
byJean-Félix Mouloungui

This title is not an opinion. It is a fact. French blacks are victims of sublte discrimination and marginalization at the heart of the Republic. The condescending attitude of the French elite twoard other countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, etc....) on this score, yet absent condemnation of recurrent discrimination in France, makes me shout with rage to tell all those who give lessons in morality: enough hipocrisy. Put the Republic's house in order first.

Diên Biên Phú and Iraq?

American and other foreign nationals being evacuated aboard Air America, April 29, 1975.

For some reason or other, not one of the four bloggers in this space took any notice of yesterday's 50th anniversary commemorations of the battle of Diên Biên Phú.

General Võ Nguyên Giáp lead the Vietnamese attack and the battle lasted from March 13 until May 7, 1954, when France surrendered [*]. Three thousand French troops and ten thousand Vietnamese died there.

In yesterday's Times, French novelist Antoine Audouard published an op-ed, chosen for its obvious echos:

Fifty years ago today, at dawn on May 7, 1954, after 56 days of battle, silence fell upon the hills of Dien Bien Phu. The French had named the hills Dominique, Béatrice and Isabelle, sweet and feminine names, evocative of the mists of the northern Vietnamese countryside. They had been taken and lost, and taken again, and their shell-plowed soil was drenched in sweat and blood. For years to come they would deliver up fragments of human bodies and muddy jungle boots. This once calm mountain valley had become the symbolic graveyard of the 60,000 French soldiers who died in the Indochina war.

Cruelly, the night before, the Vietminh radio had broadcast "Le Chant des Partisans," [brief MP3 sample] the hymn of the French Resistance. Some of the 10,000 French soldiers there had, 10 years earlier, been part of the fight against the Nazis.

Supplies parachuted in to a French garrison. At Diên Biên Phú

Hearing the familiar lyrics, they felt their hearts being torn apart. What was defeat and humiliation for them — the surrender of their fortified camp to the Vietnamese and the end of French colonial rule in that country — was victory and liberation for their adversaries, the Vietnamese. It was one and the same reality: the two sides of the coin.

Audouard's father, who was born in Saigon, fought in that battle. He traveled to Vietnam to interview former combatants from both sides. He says he found that even in Vietnam "the silence after the battle had never been broken," and that the reasons for this were strange and complex. He continues

The reasons for the French silence are easier to understand: the vanquished lie low. Many survivors of the Indochina war are content to end their lives without answering the question their children never ask: Did you participate in acts of torture? Some did, burning villages, killing children they mistook for terrorists, raping women. "I did what a soldier is supposed to do; and for the rest, I did what I could." This medieval soldier's saying is no longer an excuse. To do "what one could" is indeed a far cry from doing what one dreamed of doing.

For those who lived through the humiliation of the German takeover of France in 1940, Indochina was an opportunity for redemption. They were soon to find out a simple and harsh truth: they were not welcome. The first Westerners to tell them so were hated and dismissed. They were American. Year after year, the French fought on, ignoring their own growing scepticism about the nature and objectives of the war. "A man of honor," De Gaulle once wrote, "pays his debts with his own money." Soon enough, the French war in Vietnam was heavily financed by American money. We might once have had honor, but we had certainly run out of money. All we had left to give was blood.

Audouard concludes with some odd and contradictory thoughts:

Can the echoes of the valley of Dien Bien Phu be heard in the streets of Falluja, at the prison of Abu Ghraib? Forty years ago, French friends of America tried to warn Washington about the pitfalls of Vietnam. The French themselves repeated their mistakes in Algeria. In Iraq every day even the best of intentions are cruelly put to test by the miseries and sorrows of war. As the promoters of a modern, "clean" war would have it, torture, humiliation, rapes, the killing of innocents, useless destruction are now avoidable.

But to go to war is to go to the bottom of the pit: what if those tragedies are not "collateral damage" but war itself, the essence of war? And when the damage is done, the pain and the shame are there to stay, and the dead (those bastards, my pals) keep coming back like ghosts.

What does Audouard council here? Is it just beatific pacifism? What exactly are the lessons of Diên Biên Phú if not even the French were able to draw them? Don't ever fight? Really? Crime and ignominy may very well be inextricable from war, but if Audouard is telling us never to fight, how could this realization have torn apart French soldiers' hearts if they didn't know that the Chant des Partisans and the violence it represented were righteous? And if war is "descending to the bottom of the pit," where exactly would France have been were it not for another earlier battle, the anniversary of which will be celebrated next month?

I may not see it but, if indeed there is a parallel between the torture employed by French troops in Indochina and the torture Abu Ghraib, Audouard maybe among the first in years — in France, or anywhere else for that matter — to give a damn about either.

[*] For those inclined to snicker at the sight of the words "France surrendered," take a few valium and think of fall of Saigon, and then go fuck yourselves.

The Living and the Dead, by Jean-Paul Delevoye

LE MONDE | 08.05.04 | 14h28

Tombs desecrated in the Jewish cemetery of Herrlisheim; others, Christian ones, daubed with nazi inscriptions in another Alsatian village; a cemetery sacked in Amiens, another in Mâcon; nazi slogans, again, and two swastikas on the monument in Fleury-devant-Douaumont (Meuse) to the memory of Jewish soldiers killed at the battle of Verdun during the First World War.

The succession in only a few days of so many obnoxious deeds — as if some disturbed minds sought to outdo each other in ignominy — has of course rightly stirred up sentiments. But how many other acts of this nature in recent years went unnoticed or were only reported by the local press? How many "Carpentras" (1990) [desecration of 34 Jewish graves provoking public outcry and a massive demonstration] will it take for indignation to grow dull and for us to become accustomed to the unacceptable?

Of course, these acts were not committed in concert and their succession is a result of coincidence or of unhealthy competition. They may, in some cases, have been inspired by racism, a descent in to sectarianism and satanism or simple stupidity. It will fall to the investigators to establish and discern the share of hate ideology and stupidity. Still, beyond their differences, they are a monstrous indication of the dysfunctions of a society in disarray, lacking a common frame of reference and common values.

Insulting the dead is indeed a supreme transgression, one of the few remaining taboos in a time when, moreover, it is well looked-on to call them into question one by one.

Pre-historians tell us how important the first appearance of human sepulchers was, some 80,000 years ago: they meant that filial bonds were growing stronger, that social relations were becoming more complex, that the human being, at the very moment that he becomes aware of the ineluctability of his own death, feels a greater need to love and to remember that he has loved.

For the desecrators of our time, it is indeed this humanity, in the strongest sense of the word, that they seek to deny by insulting it.

We are aware of the fragility of social bonds, the doubts, fears and selfishness that undermine the fabric of the nation. We know that the feeling of hopelessness, of "social death," that touches the most vulnerable among our fellow citizens, those who are endangered by poverty. These feelings produce tensions, conflicts and revolt. But in my view nothing is weightier or more worrisome than when the refusal to "live together" concerns not only the living but the dead as well.

[...]

Of course, no mediation can answer aberrant, obnoxious or hateful behavior. No society is livable without authority, without laws and without the will to suppress unacceptable acts.

But let us at least try to see to it that some of our fellow citizens no longer feel abandoned and unheard. Let us not accept that the desire to understand and for debate should give way to the balance of power. This would be to vindicate somewhat those who view human relations only in terms of conflict, exclusion and intolerance.

May nothing human
Remain at the bottom of your tripes,
Not even respect
For the dead and for tombs!

Que rien d'humain
ne reste au fond de vos entrailles,
Pas même le respect
des morts et des tombeaux !

Those lines by Théodore de Banville (1823-1891) sum up so well the urgent task that lies before us all: to restore something human to hearts and to the relations at the center of our public, social and economic organizations.

Jean-Paul Delevoye is ombudsman for the Republic, former minister for public service, state reform and national and regional development.

Cops TV

TV flicaille

Dragnet or fishnet stockings? An off duty French cop, arrested for drunk driving, is a transvestite and has been prostituting himself in the Bois de Boulogne on the outskirts of Paris. Oh, those trendy Paris panty-waists! Not surprising given the fact that Dominique 'Who is a Man' Villepin™ is now France's number one cop.

A force de passer la nuit à genoux à tailler des pipes il se disait 'mon dieu, que la terre elle est basse' dans ses bas résilles. Un flic pas en service, arrêté en état d'ivresse au volant de sa bagnole, est un travesti qui se prostituait au Bois de Boulogne. Ah, les pédaloïdes des beaux quartiers! Pas étonnant maintenant que Dominique 'Qui est un bonhomme quand même' Villepin™ est flicaille numéro un.

fast and furious

French authorities claim to have thwarted a fire bomb attack on a synagogue in Villiers-le-Bel, a municipality outlying Paris. Police say the bomb, painted with a swastika and nazi slogan and found in a garden on the synagogue grounds, weighed only 800 grams and may have been intended as an incendiary device.

***
According to Reuters, the Interior ministry simulated a bomb attack at the Place d'Italie metro station as part of a series of exercises to test the preparedness of emergency services. The scenario called for the attack to be followed by a conflagration and a nearby mall was made into a mock triage center.

"France is not specifically targeted by any threat today, even if our country has been mentioned by several terrorist groups," said Interior minister de Villepin.

Er... What?

***
A silent march in solidarity with France's Jewish community and against intolerance took place in Herrlisheim, scene of the attack on a Jewish cemetery in which vandals descrated 127 headstones on April 30. The march proceeded despite rain. The march was called for by the Mayor, Jean-François Willem.

"You have to take part, it's that simple," a marcher told France 2 television.

***
In an interview, Secretary Powell told the AFP that relations with France have "changed remarkably" (perhaps because de Villepin has been relegated to the Interior ministry). Meanwhile, the paper that no one reads, the Washington Times, is printing hopeful speculations about French intentions for next month's D-Day commemorations. The batty WaTi quotes former French ambassador to Greece and the MFA's current director for UN and International Organizations" Jean-Maurice Ripert as saying Bush's visit "will be a tremendous occasion of showing that whatever the differences were, or still could exist on some issues, we are still allies and we are still working together."

***
The seat of the devil himself, French oil company Total SA, announced an 8% drop in first quarter profits over last year. What exactly can an oil company do to lose ground when oil is at $40 a barrel, the highest price in 13 years? Moreover, how can the company suffer only a 2% decline in revenue but an 8% decline in profit? The US dollar dropped like a stone. Global output has increased slightly. Total's exploration and production profits fell by 7% (to €2.82 billion) due to the low dollar while refining and marketing profits fell by 30% (to €546 million) because of the higher price of crude. Since January 1, Total has spent €880 million to repurchase 1% of outstanding shareholder equity. Of course, all that, which I don't really understand, has had serious effect on the company's bottom line.

However, none of that would have mattered if the Iraq war hadn't cost the company the right to exploit Iraqi oil-fields with a combined daily output of 1,340,000 barrels per day. (For the sake of comparison, note that the entire production capacity of Algeria is 735,100 barrels per day).

Some Cartoons Say It All...

Here's more from Daryl Cagle's Pro Cartoonists Index home page…

Don't forget…

Today's the day…

Wacky French Cartoons Roundup

A collection of French-bashing cartoons can be found on Daryl Cagle's Pro Cartoonists Index home page (along with a reprint of Dick Morris's New York Post editorial). It's a nice website to bookmark or, better yet, get regular news from by subscribing to their newsletter.

(And non, French readers, don't be paranoïaques: American cartoonists are not particularly anti-French. As can be seen on Cagle's home page, no topic is taboo and all subjects — particularly American — are broached.)

Wacky French News Roundup

Visitors to Paris will have noticed the electronic signs placed at major intersections by the mayor's office. They often indicate pollution levels and sometimes issue warnings for the elderly to stay in doors and keep activity levels to a minimum. Now the French Agency for environmental health security (AFSSE) is reporting that auto-mobile air pollution kills five to six thousand people a year in France. That's about a third of the number of peopel that died in the space of two weeks during the heat wave last August; however, back then, authorities cited air-pollution as one of the major contributing factors in the death toll. ("...searing temperatures and a lack of wind left a cloud of smog hanging over Paris," say Reuters.) I was there. It was so hot you couldn't move, hotter than I've ever felt it here in NYC.) France is two years behind schedule in its plans to meet minimum requirements for biofuel ingredients in gasoline by 2005. View AFSSE's March '04 report here (PDF: 1.9 Mb; 147 pp).

That crazy, racist witch Brigitte Bardot is on trial for hate speech AGAIN. She's been dragged to court for passages in her book, "A Cry in the Silence," which is supposed to be about how much she loves animals but reportedly contains denunciations of interracial marriage, the unemployed, homosexuals, women in government, Muslims and Islam in general. She is reported to have broken down in tears to-day during testimony. Click here for a picture of her and Jean-Marie Le Pen comforting French soldiers during the Algerian war. In October '97, a court fined Bardot for saying France was being overrun by sheep slaughtering Muslims. In January 1998, she was again fined $3,250 for incitation to racial hatred in comments on civilian massacres in Algeria (you can all guess what the substance of racist remarks on the subject will be, no doubt). Let's hope they give her a meaningful punishment this time.

The Elysée Palace is announcing that Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac will meet with 400 French and British students at the Palace this Sunday at 11 am local time. They will all have a chat about European construction. (This has obvious echos of April's visit by the Queen in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the entente cordiale. Sunday is also Europe Day. ) Blair and Chirac will hold a working lunch with Raffarin.

"Liberty Is Something You Need To Be Deprived of to Understand What It Is"

As the 60th anniversary of D-Day approaches, the press will be publishing more and more material about the greatest seaborne invasion in history. A full-page article in Le Monde describes get-togethers where veterans and civilian survivors, some of them sharing their experiences for the first time, remember the horrors of June 6, 1944, and the ensuing battle of Normandy.

The article ends with an old-timer from Sainte-Mère-Église saying, "But for us, it was the Liberation. Liberty, one needs to have been deprived of it to know what it is." The article is moving, as it is supposed to be. The problem, however, is that as Le Monde explodes with indigation over the war in Iraq and the scandal of a handful of Americans torturing Iraqi prisoners, the old Frenchman's words seem to be falling on deaf ears…

More on www.ErikSvane.com…

Paris Survival Fight Guide: lesson #37

Guide 'baston et survie' à Paris: leçon #37

I get quite a few letters from readers inquiring if Paris is safe for Americans. Here's what to do when confronted by a belligerant Parisian. The first move attempted by any Parisian guy in a fight is a head butt. Don't know why because these guys don't know Bobo Brazil from Koko B. Ware but that's what they do. Meet the guy's nose with a direct upper cut elbow smash. That will throw him back (don't mind the crunching noise his nose will make) and have our old friend the red vino make its appearance. 'red vino on tap and the same in all places, like it's put out by the same big firm' Now that he's staggering it's time to go in for the kill. Don't be shy. Get down on one knee, then reach up and grab the nutsack and tell him his eggs are ready. Apply pressure. The high pitched wail is proof that he's now a 'made man'. He's part of the Soprano family (not the one from New Jersey). If this little incident attracts a gathering, don't worry. One of the good things about living in a Latin influenced degenerate cesspit is that you can explain away most violence as the result of some kind of 'passion'. If some pain in the ass innocent bystander tries to get involved just tell him that the guy was making advances to your mistress. That, these degenerates manage to understand despite their pea brains. If no one is around and you can take your time clearing out, then kick him while he's down, and use both feet.

Je reçois de nombreux courriers qui posent la question 'Est-ce que les américains peuvent aller à Paris en toute sécurité?' Voici comment faire avec un parigot qui cherche la bagarre. La première chose tentée par un mec parisien lors d'une bagarre de rue est un coup de boule. Pourquoi? Je n'en sais rien car ils ne connaissent rien au catch style WWE, mais c'est comme ça. Faites-lui gicler de bas en haut un coude méchamment ajusté direct au pif. Là, sur le coup il va tituber (ne prêtez pas attention au bruit de craquement répété) et là notre vieil ami le vino rouge va faire son apparition. 'vino rouge au robinet, le même en tous lieux, comme s'il venait tout du même grand cru'. Pendant qu'il titube il faut livrer le coup de grâce. Ne soyez pas timide. Mettez vous sur un genou, levez votre main et prenez-lui bien par les bourses en lui disant que ses deux oeufs sur le plat sont servis. Appliquez la pression. Le cri aigu que vous entendrez est bien la preuve qu'il vient d'obtenir sa promotion. Il fait desormais partie de la famille Soprano (pas celle qui passe sur France2). Si cet incident attire un attroupement de badauds, ne vous inquiétez point. L'un des avantages de vivre dans un pays latin style fosse septique est le fait que beaucoup de violence s'explique par la 'passion'. Si un connard de bon samaritain essaie de s'y meler, dites-lui que le mec a essayé de draguer votre maîtresse. Ca, ces dégénérés arrivent à comprendre avec le peu de matos qu'ils ont entre les deux oreilles. Par contre, s'il n'y a personne et vous êtes peinard pour partir, donnez-lui des coups de pied pendant qu'il se trouve par terre. Et soyez sûr d'utiliser les deux pieds.

In Honor of the ResistantsWho Died for Denmark's Liberation (1945)

Drenge, I drenge, som døde,
I tændte for Danmark i dybeste muld
en lysende morgenrøde!

Kaj Munk

Boys, ye boys, who lie dead,
Ye lit for Denmark in darkest gloom
A shining morning red

Kaj Munk

reactions

"The ashes of Algeria sleep framed in these photos. Those whose memory is longest recognized the practices of the nazis in the ghettos, the gratuitous cruelty that consisted in humiliated Jews by forcing them into obnoxious strip-teases." — commentaries on the torture photos by Le Monde editor Eric Fottorino, whose self indulgences lead him far astray in to-day's issue.

"Either these goons were acting on someone's authority, in which case there is a layer of mid- to high-level people who think that they are not bound by the laws and codes and standing orders. Or they were acting on their own authority, in which case they are the equivalent of mutineers, deserters, or traitors in the field. This is why one asks wistfully if there is no provision in the procedures of military justice for them to be taken out and shot." — Christopher Hitchens on the torture scandal

Coming to a Head?

The AFP reports that a Jewish synagogue in Valenciennes was found defaced on Saturday. Some one drew swastikas on the exterior wall of a synagogue, reports the agency, citing "judicial sources." On a wall bordering the synagogue, someone wrote the words "Sieg Heil," and "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer" (On people, one kingdom, one leader), in blue ink.

Regular readers will be noticing a streak of incidents here. On April 29th-30th, the Jewish cemetery at Herrlisheim was defaced: 127 headstones were marked with nazi grafitti. On Saturday, the attack in Valenciennes occurred. (Meanwhile, on May 2nd, the Interior ministry reported a rise in anti-Semitic violence for the first three months of this year.) The same day that the Interior ministry made its figures public, a Roman Catholic cemetery in Niederhaslach was found defaced with nazi slogans and swastikas in what police presume was an act copying the Herrlisheim desecrations.

In to-day's issue of Le Monde, former Middle East correspondent Georges Marion (a pro-American and highly talented reporter*) published an essay entitled "European anti-Semitism: the alarming signs." He notes that the Herrlisheim desecrations occurred within hours of the end of the Berlin conference on anti-Semitism held by the the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

One could think that this act, apparently in memory of Adolf Hitler's birthday, is also not unrelated to the Berlin conference, as if the perpetrators had sought to respond dramatically to what they must view as an unacceptable provocation. But for the Jewish associations that for three years have been denouncing the persistent public expression of anti-Jewish sentiment and the rise of its corollary in the form of physical assaults on people and property, the desecration of Herrlisheim-Hattstatt constitutes only a bitter illustration of the fact that their warnings were not superfluous.

The Berlin meeting will at least have allowed us to establish, if not the exact extent of the phenomenon, at least the area over which it has spread. Nearly all of those who appeared reported the return of anti-Semitism to their countries with varying degrees of virulence. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel offered painful contemplations on this new beginning, sixty years after the Holocaust, the horror of which, he thought, would have protected the Jews henceforward. Alas! he could only become disenchanted. "The Jew that I am belongs to a traumatized generation," he told his audience. "We have antennae. Better still, we are antennae. And when we say that the signals we're receiving today are alarming, the world would do well to listen." The message is clear: as European history shows, anti-Semitism concerns not only Jews but the liberties of all.

Marion notes that the first OSCE conference on anti-Semitism was much the same and that this one promised to result in equally little concrete action. However, he notes one change:

Significantly, the principle decision taken at the Berlin conference concerns the collection and central tabulation of trustworthy data by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), an organization founded in Warsaw and funded by the OSCE.

Each country will now have to define its criteria for observation and make its data compatible with those of its neighbors in order to enable comparison, which is no mean feat.

Yet, the "signals" perceived by Elie Wiesel are no less real. A report written last year [shelved under suspicious circumstances — D], by two scholars in Berlin at the request of an EU office, the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC), professed to be able to discern the presence of a "new anti-Semitism" riding the wave of the Arab-Israeli conflict (Le Monde, December 1, 2003). The report was not published in the ground that its data were incomplete.

The one followed, published (PDF, 1.1mb ; 346 pp./press release here: 2 pp ; 24k) in April, corroborates the conclusions of the previous report while refining its analysis. "Between 2002 and 2003, we've observed a rise in anti-Semitism in Belgium, in France, Holland, Germany and the UK," says Beate Winkler, director of the EUMC. "In Austria, in Greece, in Spain and Italy, the speech is disturbing." According to the EUMC, the "old anti-Semitism" is being expressed once again, serving as a vehicle for the oldest stereotypes of European anti-Semitism: a taste for money, suspect communal allegiances, global conspiracy, the financial exploitation of the Holocaust, etc. But, which is a more recent phenomenon, these ideas are taken up by social, national or political groups that had until now been alien to them.

Gathered in Berlin prior to the conference were several non-governmental organizations that also provided many examples of the old European anti-Semitism, which is now widely exploited in the Arab press and television to feed criticism of Israeli policy. Identical instances are cited in Europe, in political sectors that are theoretically inoculated against anti-Semitism, but that nevertheless remain susceptible to exploiting it.

That is what the German president Johannes Rau recalled upon opening the conference: "Every one knows that behind the criticism repeatedly directed at Israeli policy during the last decade a violent anti-Semitism is hiding."

------------

(*) Marion was one of the only French reporters to cover the famous remarks of Imad Faluji, former Palestinian Communications Minister who gave speech at Lebanese refugee camp on March 2, 2001, asserting that "the Intifada had been planned since the failure of negotiations at Camp David."

The Colin-Rummy Feud?

A couple of days earlier, William Safire put a different perspective on the so-called Powell-Rumsfeld spat, which has been portrayed in Europe as the evil war-loving neo-coms squishing out the life of the valiant and reasonable fellow peace activist ("fellow" to them, the Europeans). Safire, who has enjoyed the company of both (together), says that

these two old pros genuinely [enjoy] sparring intellectually with each other. That [portends] a personal civility to ameliorate the usual State-Defense institutional hostility.

Desperately Seeking Leaders...

William Safire has some choice questions for Iraqis, one of which is:

Where is the leader brave enough to tell fellow Iraqis that the danger to them is not from America, but from Iran, Al Qaeda and a new Saddam?

I'm wondering: is that the type of question that can also be addressed to the peoples of France and Europe?

One German Seeing Eye to Eye with Uncle Sam

"The terrorists should know this: If you love death so much, then it can be yours."

Who's that speaking? A neocon American, assuredly. But which one? Dubya? Rummy? Ashcroft?

Wrong all wrong; you're listening to the voice of Otto Schily. "What?" a reporter asked, seemingly startled. Germany's interior minister went on to state that the situation was such that in extreme cases involving the potential death of thousands, Germany had to decide "if killing a person is justified as an emergency protective measure."

The level of frankness was all the more striking since it came from an extremely popular politician, a Socialist Democratic Party member, and, close to 30 years ago, the former lawyer of Germany's own Baader-Meinhof terrorist group

writes John Vinocur in his IHT column about "a palpable European adjustment to reality", which explains how "the psychic context of Europe's approach to terrorism appears to be altering significantly".

France is also concerned, with

Algerian newspapers on Sunday prais[ing] France for finally abandoning what one called its "benevolence" over the years toward Islamic fundamentalist preachers.

Talking about the connection between Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism as if he had discovered the wheel [our emphasis], Villepin explained on Saturday: "Here's today's reality: under the cover of religion, individuals present on our soil have been using extremist language and issuing calls for violence. These are statements that favor the installation of terrorist movements on French territory. It's necessary therefore to oppose this together and by all available means."

Germany's Vision Closer to Uncle Sam's

In an article for the New York Times Magazine, Richard Bernstein argues that U.S.-German relations have much improved since last year's annual Munich Security Conference, which was beset by mutual hostility. This year, Germany's foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, said that

even though the United States went ahead with a war that Germany opposed, it is now in the German interest for the Americans to succeed. It is certainly not in Germany's interest for its major ally, the United States, to become bogged down in a quagmire. Fischer used his Munich appearance to put forward a strategic vision that is actually very close to the American one. We face a common threat, Fischer said, and he attached a clear name to it: ''destructive jihadist terrorism with its totalitarian ideology.'' Facing that threat, Fischer declared, it is imperative that ''the coalition's efforts must be successful; the forces of violence and terror in Iraq must not win the upper hand.''

One former U.S. secretary of defense, however, would not let Fischer off the hook:

If Germany agrees that it is essential to win the peace in Iraq, and if winning the peace is so essential to the security of Europe and America, [William] Cohen asked, why would Germany rule out sending troops to Iraq to help the coalition in its struggle?

Pater noster, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat...

French police are in a panic to locate 1,100 pounds of ammonium nitrate — a fertilizer, famously used in the Oklahoma City and Bali bombings and the recent bombings in Istanbul, where the government has only just begun regulating sales of the product — which went missing on Monday in the north, according to the Times.

Police suspect the fertilizer was indeed stolen as long ago as Easter weekend from the port of Honfleur (between the Seine Maritime, Calvados, and Eure departments, near the mouth of the Seine river), where large quantities of the material were stored without special protection.

Two unexploded bombs recently found on French commuter railway tracks were made with ammonium nitrate and a group calling itself AZF (for more on AZF, see here, here and here) claimed responsibility. Police in London seized more than a half ton of the substance in March during a raid on a suspected Islamic terrorist hideout. AZF also issued demands for millions of euros.

The name AZF may in fact be a reference to a chemical company that owned an ammonium nitrate factory in the south which exploded on September 21, 2001, killing 30.

In its last communication with the government, AZF said they were regrouping to develop greater capacity. Another group (or individual) calling themsel(ves)f the Mosvar Barayev commando, sent threatening letters to prime minister Raffarin and to the French embassies in Mali and Djibouti, and to five or six others. Authorities noted that the name Mosvar (a non-existent given name) is really spelled Movsar, for Movsar Barayev, the leader of the Chechen group that held a Moscow theater audience hostage in 2002. The spelling error was originally made by an English-language press service and widely repeated. The commander of Abu Sayaf also has claimed that there is no such group as the Mosvar Barayev commando. On March 17, proche-orient.info reported then Interior minister Sarkozy claimed that the letters in question were composed directly in French rather than translated from Arabic, perhaps definitively discrediting them.

The AZF factory which exploded on 9/21/01, killing 30

***
Seventeen people (six women and 11 men) have gone on trial in Outreau (Pas-de-Calais), near Boulogne-sur-Mer, for "rape with torture" and "rape with barbaric acts." They are accused of gang-raping 18 children, aged three to 12 years. Some of the victims were allegedly raped by their own parents.

The accused vary in age from 24 to 67 and all of them deny the charges.

Prosecutors learned of the matter in December of 2000 when social services informed them that an unemployed couple might have been sexually abusing their own four children. The children told investigators that, once in foster care, they were again sexually abused, raped and made to watch pornography. The children also named neighbors. Police have seized sex toys and pornographic videos from the foster family's apartment. As part of an investigation, Police placed a court bailiff, his wife, a taxi driver and a priest under surveillance in 2001.

The investigation has netted 20 arrests. One suspect has committed suicide while in prison and another was declared unable to stand trial. The trial will call hundreds of witnesses and may last six weeks.

Just over the border in Arlon, Belgium, unemployed electrician Marc Dutroux, 47, is currently on trial with three other defendants, for for the kidnapping of six young girls, four of whom Dutroux is accused of murdering in particularly barbaric circumstances. Dutroux has denied the charges and blamed is ex-wife for the crimes.