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| Europe | ||
| France Chides Washington Over ’My Way or the Highway’ World View | ||
| 2003-06-15 | ||
| PARIS - France's defense minister took a double swipe at the United States on Saturday, accusing her counterpart Donald Rumsfeld of American supremacism and U.S. industry of waging "economic war" on Europe. Actually, it is France and Belgium who started this economic war. The US is just doing what it does best, and that is work as efficently as possible. From this there is a spill over effect. France just can't compete with the big boys anymore. It's lost it's will to compete. For example, 75% of high school students polled said they want a career as a public worker, because of the security. Michele Alliot-Marie's remarks, in a newspaper interview, were the bluntest criticism of Washington by a French official since presidents Jacques Chirac and George W. Bush skirted around their differences on Iraq at a summit two weeks ago. "The American Defense Secretary (Donald Rumsfeld) believes the United States is the only military, economic and financial power in the world. We do not share this vision," Alliot-Marie told Le Monde newspaper in an interview published on Saturday.
Who Cares!! "The French minister is entitled to her own opinion. However her opinion does not accurately characterize the policy or position of the secretary of defense or the position of the U.S. government," Defense Department spokesman Jim Turner said. France's suggestion of superpower arrogance comes days after Rumsfeld revisited the scene of recent bickering over French opposition to the Iraq war by distinguishing between "old" and "new" Europe — language which infuriated Paris in January. Back then, Rumsfeld had dismissed France and Germany as "old Europe" in contrast to a "new Europe" of mostly eastern European countries more supportive of Washington. He repeated the controversial barb in Germany on Wednesday. Alliot-Marie said military and intelligence co-operation between Paris and Washington had been unaffected by the split over Iraq. The Pentagon, however, said last month France would not be invited to a major military exercise in Nevada next year.
Yeah, let's all get out on the street and do a Manifestation, rather than just go put in a good day of hard work. It's funny living in France has made me believe that the rest of the world want to have what the US has (Germany and Japan excluded), without putting in the required amount of hard work! "American industrialists are pursuing a logic of economic war," she said in the interview, which Le Monde daily said had been read and cleared by her office before publication. "This attitude is not connected to the Iraq episode. Faced with this, European industry must regroup in order to be in a better position to resist." I love how the French collectively align their economic incompetence with the rest of europe. In Paris, A Japanese friend asked me the other day, "How is it that France is in the G8?" European and American planemakers traditionally battle for airline orders at the Le Bourget air show outside Paris, but top executives from firms like Boeing and Lockheed Martin have all decided not to attend this year. Alliot-Marie said she was worried by what she sees as moves by U.S. investors to attempt to take control of firms involved in European defense and had ordered a study into the issue. | ||
| Posted by:George |
| #5 Emperor Misha had a very funny take of this story: http://www.nicedoggie.net/archives/002360.html#002360 |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-06-15 10:46:55 |
| #4 The American Industrialist Conspiracy, again? Yes, we caused the rise of nazism, and we're also truly sorry that we called you old. Can you ever forgive our Superpower Arrogance? I suggest a good tactic for resisting the economic war would be to join the 21st century. |
| Posted by: Dick Saucer 2003-06-15 10:38:50 |
| #3 "This attitude is not connected to the Iraq episode. Faced with this, European industry must regroup in order to be in a better position to resist." It's called cutting the fat and I know Euros do not have the good sense to do that. Just wasted breath. |
| Posted by: badanov 2003-06-15 09:57:55 |
| #2 "economic war" I believe most of the world considers this Free Enterprise and competetion.But I guess that is beyond the Gallic mindset. |
| Posted by: raptor 2003-06-15 09:21:44 |
| #1 ...she was worried.........as moves by U.S. investors to attempt to take control of firms involved in European defense......... Who in their right mind would want to own a company that could not fire employees for cause (e.g. cause bidness is slow, etc.) |
| Posted by: anomalous 2003-06-15 09:05:54 |