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Today: 89 articles and 417 comments as of 10:06.
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500 illegal Iranian pilgrims arrested in Basra
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 4: Opinion
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Europe
DT: Freedom? Why Europe's not bothered
I listened to George W Bush telling Europeans that his campaign for liberty and democracy arose directly from ideals that had originated with them. You could almost hear the injured bewilderment in his voice: this was all your idea in the first place. Whatever happened to your commitment to the values enshrined in Magna Carta and the French Revolution - the doctrine of the rights of man and of government by consent? And if you are still committed to those principles, why can you not see the need to extend them to parts of the world that are still deprived of them?

The enlightenment idealism of Europe was exported to the rebellious colonies and, in geographical isolation, it flourished. While Europeans themselves undermined their own great democratic project with their ancient hatreds and their aristocratic nostalgia, the naïve Americans kept the dream intact, building it into a written constitution (which was an 18th-century idea itself).

Europe has pretty much given up on the whole undertaking now: we tried it and it ended in the Terror. We went through our phase of proselytising democratic revolution with Bonaparte and look where that ended. Spreading freedom? All that amounts to is killing off one generation of autocrats and replacing them with another. Trust the people? They are just as likely to follow a fascist demagogue as to perpetuate the sacred principle of justice.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 02/23/2005 8:52:28 AM || Comments || Link || [11133 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's never too late to get back in the game. Freedom will always appeal to people. It never goes out of style. When the EU falls apart, the "naive" Americans will be right there to support our Allies. Arab terrorists will eventually start attacking Europe on a regular basis and they will be forced out of their "mass prosperity". Guess who'll be there? We will. That's why we shouldn't ever consider pulling out of Europe.
Posted by: shellback || 02/23/2005 13:28 Comments || Top||

#2  You feelin' okay?

You're starting to make sense.
Posted by: badanov || 02/23/2005 13:35 Comments || Top||

#3  Why yes I am, thanks for asking.
Posted by: shellback || 02/23/2005 14:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Maybe, but we have been known to be kind of late.
Posted by: anonymous2u || 02/23/2005 16:21 Comments || Top||

#5  We won't be able to save Europe from itself, any more than we could save the Russians or the Chinese from themselves.
Posted by: 2b || 02/23/2005 22:57 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2005-02-23
  500 illegal Iranian pilgrims arrested in Basra
Tue 2005-02-22
  Syria to withdraw from Lebanon. No, they're not.
Mon 2005-02-21
  Zarq propagandist is toes up
Sun 2005-02-20
  Bakri talks of No 10 suicide attacks
Sat 2005-02-19
  Lebanon opposition demands "intifada for independence"
Fri 2005-02-18
  Syria replaces intelligence chief
Thu 2005-02-17
  Iran and Syria Form United Front
Wed 2005-02-16
  Plane fires missile near Iranian Busheir plant
Tue 2005-02-15
  U.S. Withdraws Ambassador From Syria
Mon 2005-02-14
  Hariri boomed in Beirut
Sun 2005-02-13
  Algerian Islamic Party Supports Amnesty to End Rebel Violence
Sat 2005-02-12
  Car Bomb Kills 17 Outside Iraqi Hospital
Fri 2005-02-11
  Iraqis seize 16 trucks filled with Iranian weapons
Thu 2005-02-10
  North Korea acknowledges it has nuclear weapons
Wed 2005-02-09
  Suicide Bomber Kills 21 in Crowd in Iraq


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