McCain is the best Democrat left.

I support a militarily stronger Europe to counterbalance the U.S. China and Russia; and also to share the burdens of defence.

NO, I don’t mean what you mean. As I said I don’t want the EU to be the attack dog of the USA, as you seem to understand. I want INDEPENDENCE from the capricious and very rightist policies of the USA, so damaging specially the last years. And we’re sharing “the burdens of defence (sic)” since the OTAN was created, by paying the USA leaded adventures with good money. It’s the basic thing that didn’t understand Bush when he launched the war without the full support of his European allies. The tacit pact was, the USA uses its enormous military, and we pay the bill after the mess. Bush, not knowing anything about this, destroyed the pact, and its in a grand share responsible for why your country is now in a recession. You declared the war, and now you find that no one except the USA is there to pay the bill, and has to pay yet the bribes to the bribed countries in the “Coalition of the Willing”. Clear enough?

I think Europe has neglected it’s defence (relying on the U.S.), instead using the money for socialist programs. But, that neglect has empowered the U.S., militarily, to an unreasonable level. I would personally welcome European military parity with the U.S. so we could share more equally in decision making, responsibility and effort; in our common defence. The checks and balance would be positive for Europe, the U.S. and the rest of the world.

More like the USA has neglected its citizens’ wellness in favor of an overbloated military, that has given its ethnocentrist neocons the feeling of invencibility that has put your country in the actual bad situation. Now the USA has demonstrated its volatility as political and military ally, so we must step ahead, to seek our independency form another suicide pact when a new Republican President (not the next one, to be voted in November ‘08, for sure) steps in the Oval Office.

Oh, and the USA “exclusive” system of checks and balances hasn’t worked very well under the Bush’s signing statements, isn’t? Don’t want to impose your system in other already democratic countries, thanks. We have our own laws and means to insure the correct functionement of our democracies, thanks. Don’t be so patronizing.

I’m rough and unpolite? Maybe, but I know your history and what you mean with these two paragraphs, and I’m answering in advance.

Of course, if you think this is a problem for McCain, trust me – the American people like French bashing, too.

So backup, you believe that spending money on guns rather than butter (like healthcare and education) is a road to a better future?

I was a little put-off by that sentence from backup. Heaven forbid we should invest in our people.

I remember the “cold” war and was very happy to see it fade away. Now we’ve got NATO planes intercepting Russian bombers, the French president talking about EU military forces, the weaponization of space…

Although cynical, I still retain some of my old idealism and wish we could figure out a way to live together without trying to steal the other guy’s stuff!

So backup, you believe that spending money on guns rather than butter (like healthcare and education) is a road to a better future?

I share your concern. This is obviously a long way from “beating swords into plowshares,” and I don’t see how increasing military strength whether in the U.S., China, or the E.U. can possibly lead to peace. It’s simply more of the never-ending “balance of power” stuff that’s been going on forever, and especially since WWII. Preparing for war does not lead to a peaceful world. Never has, never will.

no one here has suggested anything remotely like the strawman you’ve propped up does.

I work with a fellow who calls himself an old hippie and seems to think himself quite liberal but who amuses himself by saying stupid things like, “Please excuse my French” and I find it discouraging.

I support a militarily stronger Europe to counterbalance the U.S. China and Russia; and also to share the burdens of defence.

I think Europe has neglected it’s defence (relying on the U.S.), instead using the money for socialist programs. But, that neglect has empowered the U.S., militarily, to an unreasonable level. I would personally welcome European military parity with the U.S. so we could share more equally in decision making, responsibility and effort; in our common defence. The checks and balance would be positive for Europe, the U.S. and the rest of the world.

I was a bit surprised that Sarkozy mentioned “missile defence” because I thought that was mainly an American thing. This morning I heard that the U.S. may offer Russia the ability to monitor Poland’s proposed installation. But, I also heard that Poland will only agree to temporary inspections and only on a reciprocal basis. So that agreement may not fly.

And, to be honest, I was surprised to see Poland included in that group of six nations.

http://www.europeanvoice.com/archive/article.asp?id=29809

Well, altough I’m ambivalent about the military (I’m a strongly pacifist as in ‘no weapons at all’ type), I think such an initiative is a good although hard thing (due to the great thinking differences existing yet between European countries) to attain, and that could benefit the EU in the sense of more independency of (mis)adventures of our main ally, the USA, as long as we don’t become a proxy-warrior for said country. It would also benefit us in the form of technological advancements, not only for military output, and an exit for our military factories and shipyards, that have been hardly beaten by the far cheaper ones in Asia.

As said, if it has a uniting and peaceful result (also as a counterbalance of the war prone USA, China, Russia), I’m for it, although I see it a difficult target to attain, specially due to the fact that UK and Poland are USA’s lackeys. And, in one hand, the UK has never felt itself as ‘European’ (although the money coming from France and Germany through the UE saved its economy pushing them to the modern day one), and Poland lean too much to the far rightism, and far from the more pacifist and left leaning view of many of the other western Europe continental countries.

‘France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy plans to create an elite defence group of the EU’s six biggest member states once the Lisbon treaty comes into force next year.

The alliance of France, the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy and Poland would pledge a minimum level of defence spending and promise to improve their military capabilities as well as work together on military co-operation projects including common defence equipment procurement and forming a 60,000- strong intervention force. They could also co-operate on military infrastructure projects including intelligence-gathering satellites and missile defence.’

http://www.europeanvoice.com/archive/article.asp?id=29809

Hypocrite

Surely your kidding right? Do you think we’re all Monkey’s?

And I didn’t meant to call you Shirley.

RIP
SGT Stephen R. Sherman
C CO 1-5 In (STRYKER)
KIA 3 Feb 2005
Mosul, Iraq