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I'm curious about what interpretation of events leads you to the conclusion that, say, France was aligned against US interests? What about Canada? Edit: And it

I'm curious about what interpretation of events leads you to the conclusion that, say, France was aligned against US interests? What about Canada? Edit: And it's one thing (not necessarily a great thing) if you and your allies are knowingly and willingly exchanging intelligence about suspicious activities you pick up in each other's countries to tip off law enforcement. Exfiltrating corporate industrial and technological secrets is a different matter and there's no way an allied government would be OK with that happening, even as an under-the-table arrangement.

redis_mlc 6y ago
It was reported that before the Iraq war, Germany and France advisors told Saddam Hussein that the US would not possibly invade. They were acting as soothsayers in support of arms sales. (This is kind of expected, since EU members were/are too cowardly to even engage in Bosnia, a country of 4 million people, so cannot conceive of the military will of the US.) What's less well-known is that a single US "envoy" flew to Iraq to broker/demand a last-minute surrender deal, but the Iraqis wouldn't accept a thuggish level of statesmanship (protocol), so declined to talk to him. There were also attempts by Iraq, the Arab community and the UN at various times to broker a peace, but none of those parties had the authority and decisiveness to speak on behalf of Hussein essentially. (ie. talk is cheap.) If you remember Baghdad Bob, then you know that developing countries are very prideful: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Saeed_al-Sahhaf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Saeed_al-Sahhaf
tw04 6y ago
I literally just said that France and Germany were against the war. Assuming you were old enough to be an adult leading up the war literally EVERYTHING leads me to that conclusion. Their populations protested, they were very vocal and it was obvious to anyone watching international news broadcasts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_the_Iraq_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_the_Iraq_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governmental_positions_on_the_Iraq_War_prior_to_the_2003_invasion_of_Iraq#France https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governmental_positions_on_the_...

redis_mlc 6y ago

It was reported that before the Iraq war, Germany and France advisors told Saddam Hussein that the US would not possibly invade. They were acting as soothsayers in support of arms sales. (This is kind of expected, since EU members were/are too cowardly to even engage in Bosnia, a country of 4 million people, so cannot conceive of the military will of the US.) What's less well-known is that a single US "envoy" flew to Iraq to broker/demand a last-minute surrender deal, but the Iraqis wouldn't accept a thuggish level of statesmanship (protocol), so declined to talk to him. There were also attempts by Iraq, the Arab community and the UN at various times to broker a peace, but none of those parties had the authority and decisiveness to speak on behalf of Hussein essentially. (ie. talk is cheap.) If you remember Baghdad Bob, then you know that developing countries are very prideful: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Saeed_al-Sahhaf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Saeed_al-Sahhaf

tw04 6y ago

I literally just said that France and Germany were against the war. Assuming you were old enough to be an adult leading up the war literally EVERYTHING leads me to that conclusion. Their populations protested, they were very vocal and it was obvious to anyone watching international news broadcasts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_the_Iraq_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_the_Iraq_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governmental_positions_on_the_Iraq_War_prior_to_the_2003_invasion_of_Iraq#France https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governmental_positions_on_the_...