America and European defense: a response to Davis Hanson

Davis Hanson's latest article reguritates the usual American litany about European ingratitude, sanctimoniousness and freeloading. As if the death of the Spanish soldiers in Iraq or Germans in Afganistan are insufficent commitment in blood and treasure.

How many bodybags suffice before Americans appreciate their allies' sacrifices and solemn committment to battling islamojishadism?

There's one passage that disturbs me because I've come across this latent sentiment in other venues: an obsessive fixation on Europe's welfare state. Too many American commentators articulate a position that parodies Goering: you've had you butter now get your guns! As if an American pull out of Europe would suddenly galvanize the Europeans to suddenly increase their defense budgets and project their power.

I suspect it's because subconciously the American commentariat is jealous that for all its flaws and defects, the European welfare state is a rather decent institution.
In any case, Davis Hanson once again underestimates European fears of their recent history. They don't want to repeat the arms race that led to the First World war; yet American officaldom and the commentariat arent't exactly diligent in assuaging those fears; on the contrary they ironically inflame those fears through the Ideology of the New American century.

The American neocons have made it quite clear that no one will challenge American preeminence without consequences; so such an attitude raises serious policy dilemmas: if the Europeans build up sufficent strategic capabilities that permits them to deploy forces around the world to defend their interests and protect their citizens, will such capabilities be viewed as the appropriate committment to fighting Islamist terrorism or regarded as an intolerable challenge that must be stopped in its inception?

It's all very well to hector Europeans about their dismal military and laughable military budgets but the Americans have been utterly ambiguous with respect to what they expect from the Europeans other than to insult them, mock their defense policies and deride their militaries. The American commentariat would do well to propose prescriptions than to insult Europeans, then tell them that they're expected to contribute to their own defense but if they do, it's appallingly derisory. American cognitive dissonace exasperates in wanting to protect the world on its own but simultaneously demanding others share the burden as well

Saber i con?ixer: 2 verbs que signfiquen gair?be la mateixa cosa

con?ixer completament, tenir coneixen?a que un cosa es, s'ha esdevingut per la informaci? que en tenim

Haver o tenir una idea mes o menys completa (d'alg? i d'alguna cosa)

Message aux ?colos: laissez les chr?tiens tranquilles!

Merde! Les ?colos pontificent que le Dimanche de Rameaux n'est pas tr?s ?cologique Comme toujours ils pr?conisent que le r?colte des rameaux ait un certificat ou quelconque papier disent que ils ont ?t? r?cuill? de fa?on enviro.

Vous m'excuserez mais je m'en fous de ces certificat-?colos et de me faire dire que le r?colte des rameaux est enviro-inimicable et donc le boycotter si les p?pinaire n'adaptent pas un lourde certification qui ne sert ? grande chose qu'enrichir les ?colos du Prim?re Monde. Ali?nier des persones poteniellement sympathiques n'est jamais une bonne politique.

Europeans: congenitally evil and incompetent

John links to a report about how anti-Semitism is integral to European culture. I've only skimmed the document because I've read about this subject before.

I'm unconvinced that anti-Semitism is integral to European culture but it has most certainly poisioned it. Nonetheless, as I skimmed through the document, I also ame across a post by Joeon the two front war the west faces in the war against the islamojidahists

A thought crystallized about the Europeans. They're demoralized; not because they're decandant but because they're frustrated. Anything they do, they're either cogentially evil for siding with dictator, propping up tyrannies, extripating anti-Semitism; or they're incomptent for not prosecuting the war with the same martial vigour as the Americans.

Americans should fear European fracasomania as they can't demand from the latter to believe in themselves and their common civilization if they're regarded as unrepenant, anti-Semites whose very culture is intrinsically hateful and whatever military, police, judicial, political and diplomatic efforts are viewed as shamefully inadequate; indeed a civilizational betrayal.

So what's the solution? For both sides of the Atlantic to calm down and then to look again at what we have in common. Also, I haven't seen very much interest by American offidaldom nor the commentariat to debate the issues, to find solutions and to assist those Europeans who are appalled by current events and have no desire to see the common Western civilization self-destruct. Nor have I seen the reciprocal interest by most of Europe either. Nonetheless, it's imperative to voice the greivences because the solutions can be found. To reiterate my hoary point: We have more in common that what separate us.

Le budget du Qu?bec: rein de nouveau