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February 9, 2007
Worse Than Cowards
We like to think of the French as sniveling cowards that won't stand up to fight for Western Civilization because they've become too soft in the knowledge that America and Britain will fight their battles for them. But Betrayal: France, the Arabs, and the Jews , a new book by David Pryce-Jones, suggests the real explanation for French treachery is even simpler: they're on the side of the bad guys.
It began back in the 19th century, when France tried to catch up to Britain by building a colonial empire in the Arab world. Attempts to become what they themselves have called "a Muslim power" fit smoothly with the anti-Semitism that has long been so virulent in France.
Over the decades the French have again and again assisted the Muslim world's most radical elements. They have consistently helped Arabs in their campaign to destroy Israel. They provided a base for future dictator Ayatollah Khomeini while the regrettable Jimmy Carter pulled the rug out from under the Shah of Iran. France also protected Yasser Arafat, lionizing the verminous terrorist with grand receptions and funneling hundreds of $millions in European aide in his direction. It's no coincidence that Arafat died in a Paris hospital, where Jacques Chirac wiped tears at his bedside.
Also tight with the French was the genocidal dictator Saddam Hussein, whom Chirac called a "personal friend." In the 1980s they sold him $25 billion in weapons in addition to a nuclear reactor that Israelis had to destroy for the sake of self-preservation.
As we all recall, France used its undeserved slot on the Security Council to sabotage UN efforts to enforce its resolutions in Iraq, leading Saddam to feel confident that he would not be invaded and could continue to bluff the world into believing his WMD program was highly advanced.
Let's not forget that when Reagan retaliated against Libya for killing Americans in terror attacks, our warplanes had to fly all the way around France and Spain because these "allies" wouldn't let us use their airspace.
Reviewing the book, the Sydney Morning Herald's Michael Duffy sums up with this:
France bears two legacies from its national version of the Napoleon complex. One is a dwindling of what influence it did have in world affairs. The other is the presence of millions of sometimes violent Muslims on French soil, a legacy of its attempt at empire and its encouragement of the growth of radical Islam abroad. According to Pryce-Jones, the toll from the riots of late 2005 in some 300 cities and towns across France was: 10,000 vehicles burned, 230 buildings damaged or destroyed, 125 police wounded, and 5000 rioters arrested, with 800 of them given prison sentences.
Lie down with dogs…
Posted by Van Helsing at February 9, 2007 9:16 AM
Comments
Excellent analysis, and one I've heard before. There was a symposium about this subject at frontpagemag.com a while back. The interview covered France's desire for Eurabia to counter the U.S. without thinking out the consequences. It is very sad that Europeans can't stand with America instead of against it because they are us and we are them.
Posted by: Chris at February 9, 2007 11:52 PM
This is an excerpt from Trevanian's book Shibumi (pg 152). Scene: Two men in the Basque country of the Pyrenees Mountains- one a gruff and ethnocentric Basque, named Le Cagot, and the other a Russian German aristocrat, named Nicholas Hel. They're talking about a Frenchman whom they both despise and just insulted.
Shibumi was written back in 1979. France doesn't seem to have changed much in the past 28 years, has it?
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Le Cagot patted the hostess's bottom and sent her after their food. "I don't think we have made a great friend there, Niko. And he is a man to be feared." Le Cagot laughed, "After all, his father was French and very active in the resistance."
Hel smiled. "Have you ever met one who was not?"
"True. It is astonishing that the Germans managed to hold France with so few divisions, considering that everyone who wasn't draining German resources by the clever maneuver of surrendering en masse and making the Nazis feed them was vigorously and bravely engaged in the Resistance. Is there a village without its Place de la Resistance? But one has to be fair; one has to understand the Gallic notion of resistance. Any hotelier who overcharged a German was in the Resistance. Each whore who gave a German soldier the clap was a freedom fighter. All those who obeyed while viciously withholding their cheerful morning 'bonjours' were heroes of liberty!"
Hel laughed. "You're being a little hard on the French."
"It is history that is hard on them. I mean real history, not the verite a la cinquieme Republique that they teach in their schools. The truth be known, I admire the French more than any other foreigners. In the centuries they have lived beside the Basque, they have absorbed certain virtues- understanding, philosophic insight, a sense of humor- and these have made them the best of the 'others'. But even I am forced to admit that they are a ridiculous people, just as one must confess that the British are bungling, the Italians incompetent, the American neurotic, the Germans romantically savage, the Arabs vicious, the Russians barbaric, and the Dutch make cheese. Take the particular manifestation of French ridiculousness that makes them attempt to combine their myopic devotion to money with the pursuit of phantom 'gloire'. The same people who dilute their burgundy for modest profit willingly spend millions of francs on the atomic contamination of the Pacific Ocean in the hope that they will be thought to be the technological equals of the Americans. They see themselves as the feisty David against the grasping Goliath. Sadly for their image abroad, the rest of the world views their actions as the ludicrous egotism of the amorous ant climbing a cow's leg and assuring her that he will be gentle."
Posted by: The Panday at February 10, 2007 4:32 AM
Very good article. When Arafat died, Jacques Chirac actually called him a 'man of great courage.' However, another reason why the French are considered cowardly by most of the rest of the world is because much of their military history is far from exemplary. For hilarious proof of this, Google these three words: "French Military Victories," and click on the first result that comes up. It will ultimately lead to a site designed by a Canadian on France's military history which is informative, rather educational, and funny as hell.
Posted by: Adam at February 10, 2007 7:18 PM
Speaking of the French, looks like they're working on a line of men's panty hose! 'twould be unbelievable, were it not the French!
Posted by: Jonathan L. at February 12, 2007 9:45 AM
