Belgium and France have a problem

Den Beste takes on a couple of Euros.

"...Rumsfeld, ever the straight talker (my kind of man) has now said that the US won't provide any funding for a planned project to build a new NATO HQ in Belgium until Belgium repeals the law. Modification ain't good enough; he wants the law completely repealed.

"The NYTimes reports that the Belgians are pissed, especially since Rumsfeld also said that it might be necessary for NATO to find a new location for its HQ, perhaps one more central to the expanded alliance. (The Czech Republic has been mentioned as a possibility.)..."

"A lot of people in Europe misunderstand Rumsfeld, not to mention underestimating him. There's a power in frankness and straight talk; it's a way of cutting through bullshit and getting straight to the issues. It may be viewed by some as being unsophisticated or uncouth but it also tends to work really well, when it's needed. And Rumsfeld is really, really good at it.

"In this case, however, I think they have completely misunderstood what Rumsfeld wants. He isn't attempting to get the law repealed. He's attempting to get NATO HQ moved out of Belgium. If his blunt talk makes it politically impossible for Belgian politicians to rescind the law, Rumsfeld wins.

"Of course, if the Belgians back down and rescind the law, Rumsfeld also wins. It makes the point, forcefully, that we're not going to put up with international busybodies second-guessing our politicians and military people by filing charges against them in kangaroo courts, and indirectly would help in our efforts to make clear that we won't tolerate having the ICC used maliciously against our people."

Then there is France.

"...the French are beginning to get worried about business relations with the US. French sales to the US seem to be collapsing. In March they had a €97 million trade surplus with the US, but in April that became a €202 million trade deficit. A change that massive means either a dramatic rise in American sales to France, which seems unlikely, or a dramatic decline in French sales to the US, and it's got to be a lot more than just wine and cheese. There isn't any official boycott or trade sanctions, but there seems to be something big going on.

"And given that the current unrest in France is likely to seriously impact their tourist industry, and that the overall economic outlook for Europe is pretty grim right now, it means that France is facing a pretty serious economic challenge, and it's reached the point where the French government has decided it has to work to solve the problem, even as it denies that the problem exists."

"...The French are doing their best to talk up a reconciliation, but it's mostly fantasy and hopes of a self-fulfilling prophecy spiced with a healthy topping of desperation. They'd really like to let bygones be bygones, but it isn't that simple. What they did wasn't just the result of a small misunderstanding, a temporary tiff between the best of friends, or anything even remotely resembling "a friend telling another friend he's wrong as a demonstration of true friendship". What the French did was much more serious, and the people and businessmen and government of the US are not going to get over it that easily. France is still near the top of our shitlist, and they're going to stay there."

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