Protein Strings

A couple of commenters at a Davids Medienkritik post have some interesting (because I agree with them) things to say about the differences between French and German opposition to the US and to the war in Iraq. Here's one:

I'd call France a hostile neutral at this point. They're not (contra someone else above) like Iran and North Korea - I mean, I don't expect France to nuke NYC any time soon - but they may help enemies of ours if they perceive advantage, and they see thwarting and damaging the US as ipso facto advantageous to them. All this is well known and supported by statements of French politicians. I do not expect this to change with the change of administration in France, because as far as I can tell from across the Atlantic, these policies have the support of the French themselves.

Germany's a little different. Germany seems confused. I would not call Germany an ally now, but neither would I put in the category with France. (Yet. There's enough anti-American sentiment in Germany that going in that direction is a possibility. On the other hand, anti-American sentiment in Germany isn't exactly new.)

And here's another:

I separate Germany and France in this. Right now with Jauques Chirac in charge, France is probably an adversary of the US instead of an ally. This may change with the change of French Presidents. Permit me to doubt it.

Germany is still an ally in my eyes, although the unending morally improvement lectures and (particularly) the inexcusable political behavior of Chancellor Schroeder has put unprecedented strain on the US-German alliance.

I think a significant part of American forbearance when it comes to the German opposition to the Iraq war exists because after WWII, it was the policy of the US and the allies to cast a wide pacifist streak into Germany. Being aware of this, most Americans aren't much concerned that Germany would now refuse, on principle, to put any German troops in Iraq.

For the same reason, Germany gets a lot of credit for their participation in Afghanistan. Afghanistan was clearly a purely defensive war, while Iraq was a war of choice, regardless of whether one thinks it was the right choice or not. So it's easy to give Germany credit for helping in Afghanistan and at the same time to not blame them for not helping in Iraq.

But the same cannot be said of France. France does not have a pacifist history (WWII aside) to explain their opposition to invading Iraq. France doesn't have a history of requiring UN approval before they deploy their own military forces. They can't reasonably use pacifism or the UN as a reason to oppose the war, as Germany could. But they attempted to do just that, and many people, predisposed either to oppose the US or to believe anything that they hear bought the French rationale.

It was naked French self-interest tarted up in threads of fine selflessness that caused the French to oppose the war. That Germany hooked their wagon to this French star demonstrates German confusion, not principle. Germany would have done better for its own international standing to oppose the war independently rather than hand-in-hand with France- literally on at least one occasion, though Chirac and Schroeder may only have been exchanging protein strings. Of course, there's a lot of domestic EU politics at play that I won't get into here.

Anyway, the German-American relationship is salvagable, essentially, whereas the Franco-American relationship probably isn't. The outcome is in the German people's hands. Either they will continue to look to France to lead them, or they will see that being European does not require standing against the US, as New Europe, the UK, and others know. Will they miss their next opportunity to speak up? I'm looking forward to finding out.