French Media gloats at US woes in Iraq

[Flagg]

FRENCH MEDIA GLOATS AT US WOES IN IRAQ

Received Monday, 12 April 2004 12:09:00 GMT
PARIS, April 12 (AFP) - French media are gloating at the troubles the United States is having in enforcing its occupation of Iraq, with several newspapers Monday predicting chaos if Washington does not finally reach out to the United Nations for help.
Headlines such as the left-leaning Liberation's "Iraq: The Coalition Taken Hostage" and coverage highlighting the struggles US troops are having trying to regain control over several cities have been tempered, however, by concern over the abduction of foreign civilians by Iraqi insurgents and the potential for regional instability.
"The Americans don't dare use the word... but it's well and truly a new war which has started," the daily Le Parisien said.
The tone of the coverage in that newspaper and other outlets bordered on we-told-you-so, and recalled the hostility between Paris and Washington that occurred just over a year ago when France led an international grouping that ultimately blocked US hopes of winning a UN mandate for the invasion.
"In twelve months, the Americans and their allies have accumulated military and political errors" in a failed bid to reshape the Middle East by force, Le Parisien said.
The 135,000 US soldiers involved in the occupation are now hopelessly outnumbered by the combined numbers of Shiite and Sunni Muslim Iraqis opposed to their presence, and the "coalition of the willing" is crumbling, the newspaper said.
"Only (British Prime Minister) Tony Blair is remaining faithful to his ally. The Spanish are about to leave. What are the Japanese going to do? The Italians are divided on the issue. In Poland, a serious domestic political crisis is brewing....
"If the Americans leave, today or June 30 (the date for a scheduled handover of powers to an interim Iraqi administration), there will be chaos, maybe even civil war," it said.
Liberation agreed, saying the Americans are in "dire straits".

http://www.ttc.org/200404121209.i3cc9ic15551.htm

[trumad]

1. The GMF link on the front page

should tell you all you need to know about the source of this piece... It's filled with Neo-Cons.

[0007]

3. Let me put this one in the proper prospective

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((Bong)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))


Propaganda please sit down!

[rocktivity]

5. Shouldn't that be "gong," 0007?

:headbang:
rocknation

[0007]

11. 'Ya know, I don't know? What do 'ya think, gong or bong?

I'm at your command.
:shrug:

[rocktivity]

13. Well, the name of the show WAS "The Gong Show"

And the object of the game was to avoid being so bad that ou got "gonged"!

:)
rocknation

[truthisfreedom]

16. well, if Tommy Chong had hosted the Gong Show, it would have been the Bong

Show. no doubt about it.

[Eye and Monkey]

18. With BushCo at the helm, we're simply stuck on "The Wrong Show".

[rocktivity]

2. Well, could you blame them?

Some American journalists weren't too kind to them when French people were killed in that heatwave they had.

:headbang:
rocknation

[0007]

4. I certainly couldn't - but how do 'ya reason with a junior size asshole?

[Flagg]

6. here is just a part of an interview dated March, 2, 2003

VILLEPIN: Is the use of force going to make the Middle East a safer region? Don't you think it's going to create frustrations, humiliations, divisions?

Don't you see the instability of this region, what about the unity of Iraq, we can discuss that. These questions we are waiting, when I meet with Colin Powell, President Chirac raised these questions when he is discussing with President Bush and we all are discussing these matters because I think it's very, very important to have these kind of discussions before than after. Because after we are all going to pay the consequences. If we are going to...

STEPHANOPOULOS: What are those consequences?

VILLEPIN: A burst of terrorism, for example. Don't you think when you use force prematurely, when you use force in a region like the Middle East, which might be the most dangerous region of the world, with religious, with cultural consequences, with a lot of difficulty for the people of these regions and everywhere in the world. Today, 90 percent of the world community is not for the use of force, believe that we should stick to the Resolution 1441 and go ahead with the inspections while it is possible. And why do these people do believe so? Because they are pacifists? Take the example of France. France is not a pacifist country. We are the first contributor in troops to NATO. We were with the U.S. in Afghanistan. We took our share, an important share, in Bosnia and Kosovo. We had 70 soldiers, French soldiers, killed in Bosnia. That's not being pacifist. We are ready to take our full responsibilities...

full text
http://www.iraqwatch.org/government/france/mfa/france-mfa-villepin-030203.htm

[truthspeaker]

7. What's French for "I told you so"?

[Mackay]

15. "Bien fait pour ta guele!"

It means literally: "It suits your face!"

usually used as in, "Well, you deserved it!"

[yolatengo]

8. NOT gloating

Blunt maybe, but the French can be blunt. Brutally honest?
Probably.

Gloating? I don't think so; It's more like an appreciation that
hubris can lead to disaster. They've heard (then Minister of
Interior), François Mitterrand say: "the only possible negotiation
is war." during the 1954 uprising in Algeria that led to an 8
year war for independence. They also thought they'd just go
back and 'reclaim' Indochina in 1946, picking up their empire
where it left off in 1939.

I work with French people often. They have compassion,
understanding and maybe pity for thoughtful Americans
who saw this war as a disaster from the beginning. They
have contempt for the warmongers who thought this would
be a 'cakewalk' and the spoils would justify the war for a
gullible American people. France has been through such
times herself and maybe she thinks she's "older and wiser"...

Bigby

[Jacobin]

9. They were (and are) right

That, of course, is simply unforgivable. :eyes:

[MetaTrope]

10. A hint of insurrection?

Time to surround Marseilles with mercenary American troops and start dropping the cluster bombs!

[The_Casual_Observer]

12. Freedom fries.

Freedom toast.

That will show 'em.

[daleo]

14. It doesn't sound like gloating

It just sounds like an objective re-statement of the facts.

[UTUSN]

17. It's a Tough Job, But Somebody's Got to Do It n/t

[TankLV]

19. Boy do I ever agree with the French. I TOLD YOU SO! WE ALL TOLD YOU SO!

BUT YOU ALL JUST RIDICULED US AS A "FOCUS GROUP"!

I/we told you so, over and over and over again, but you didn't listen. Did you?

Now you're in trouble and you want sympathy?

No fucking way!

Maybe after the last innocent victum of our illegal actions is healed.

Maybe after all the crimes you have committed and been punished equally for.

Maybe afte you pay for all the costs that you have brought upon us all.

Maybe after you have repaid all of your illegal illgotten riches - blood money!

Maybe after I think of every other unfortunate sole on this planet who has died or suffered because of what you have done.

Only then will I even contemplate a thought in your direction.

Evil, fucking repukes, and dinos, the whole lot of them.