[FREE IRAN Project] In The Spirit Of Cyrus The Great

[stefania]

Outlawing war: the ultimate frontier of Euro-centrism



Europe claims to be the “cradle of civilization.” Such a notion is debatable, as it undermines the importance of the ancient non-European civilizations, like the Egyptian and Persian empires, which definitely contributed to the establishment of civilization, as we know it today. Furthermore, after the splendor of the Roman Empire, Europe went through a long period of decadence that lasted for a few centuries. During the same time, between the 7th and 12th century, the Middle East produced a superior civilization, in terms of discoveries and inventions, architectural achievements, poetry and literature.



It is unquestionable, however, that Europe is the initiator and the crucial contributor to the western civilization, the political and economical foundations of which (democracy and market economy) are European inventions.



Unfortunately, Europe suffers from Euro-centrism, or the tendency to consider only European facts, events, culture, history, etc. worth noting, and to disregard everything that happens outside of Europe. On the one hand, it is true that globalization is affecting Europe as well as other continents, and that American culture has a considerable influence on European countries; on the other hand Euro-centrism still survives as a snobbish intellectual attitude, common among educated Europeans.



The highest European achievement after WWII has been the establishment of the European Union, and the ability to overcome centuries of mistrust, rivalry and hostility during that process. It would have been inconceivable until 50 years ago to think of France and Germany as partners and allies, sharing the same political long-term views.



Intoxicated by their success, Europeans want to export their model, based on compromise at all cost, to the entire world. They go as far as contemplating the possibility of outlawing war and consider the US as a dinosaur, overgrown and too powerful to be controlled by its small brain, and therefore on the brink of extinction. By using the dinosaur metaphor, Europeans equate the powerful US military machine to the body, and President Bush and its administration to the small brain of the primordial beast. Evolution, they say, took care of the unbalance, by making dinosaurs extinct and promoting smaller mammals to a prominent position in the planet.



Europeans have fallen victims of their own Euro-centric vision of the world to the point that they don’t realize that outlawing war is as effective as outlawing cancer. Nobody likes either war or cancer, but neither can be defeated by legal means. Europeans forget that geographical proximity as well as cultural proximity are at the basis of the miracle operated by France and Germany in their transition from fierce enemies to best friends. There is no cultural proximity with the axis of evil, and no possibility of compromise with Iran or North Korea.

The real European paradox is in that Europe appears to be a “prisoner of history”, slow to adapt, blasé and cynical, always ready to provide historical references to the past to justify the ineptitude of the present, yet Europeans appear not to learn any lesson from history. The path of appeasement chosen by England and France to avoid confrontation with Germany in the 30s provoked the dissolution of the League of Nations and a war that killed 40 million people. Europe is doomed to repeat the same mistake today, but the outcome will be even more terrifying. Iran has set its course to become a nuclear power, and Europe is likely to be, after Israel, the primary target of nuclear attacks, since the Iranians are still years away from the technology needed to build intercontinental ballistic missiles, which could make the US a potential target.



Europeans appear unable to understand that their lifestyle is as outrageous to Islamic fundamentalists as the American lifestyle. Even if the islamist rhetoric today constantly blames America, Europeans won’t be spared by the fundamentalist fury.



Sometimes, out of frustration, the average American lets out an unconfessed desire to see a terrorist attack in Europe, a sort of wake up call for Europeans, who would finally join the US in the war on terror. What a naïve thought! Europeans would react by intensifying appeasement and diplomatic solutions, and by buying their way out of terror through dirty deals.


In 1993, while the American soldiers in Somalia were killed in the episode made famous by the movie “Black Hawk Down”, the Italian expeditionary force in Mogadishu was paying the militia of General Aidid in order not to get shot. And what to think of the behind the scene maneuvering of the British diplomacy, soon after the beginning of the war against Saddam? When it became clear that British troops would have been deployed to Bassora, Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, and Mike O'Brien, a Foreign Office minister, visited Iran and made sure that they had an “understanding” with the Shiite Islamic Republic. The British occupation of Bassora, a predominantly Shiite region, proceeded smoothly without any killing of British soldiers, while in other regions of Iraq Americans were and are the targets of Saddam’s loyalists, international terrorists and Iranian killers. On June 19th, Tony Blair gave a strong warning to the Iranian theocracy, demanding the end of the nuclear ambitions of Iran, threatening to stop the business deals with the European Union, so desperately needed by the Iranian regime to survive. Five days later, after two months of absolute calm in the British controlled area, six soldiers were suddenly killed and eight injured. Tony Blair and Jack Straw understood the message, and were instrumental in orchestrating the recent masterpiece of appeasing diplomacy that allowed the Islamic regime to avoid economic sanctions while still pursuing a nuclear program with the blessing of England, France and Germany.



Old Europe is a lost cause for the war on terror. The US has to forge new alliances with east-European countries, which are part of the coalition of the willing, and still appreciate the values of freedom and democracy that they recently achieved after decades of communist ruling. The “new Europe” is less parochial, non Euro-centric and not prepared to compromise on crucial issues like national security. After 9/11 and the war against Saddam, America has found new friends in Europe; America can leverage its new friendships to counteract the suicidal tendencies shown by the old European block which will continue on the path of appeasement towards rogue states. The good news is that America is not any more isolated in Europe, in spite of what liberal media would like the American public to believe.
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Referendum AFTER Regime Change

"I'm ready to die for you to be able to say your own opinions, even if i strongly disagree with you" (Voltaire)

[asher]

Stefania, this is a terrific post! Thanks for your insights on Europe. Please keep writing.



("Outlawing war" ... gee, now why didn't we think of that?)

[stefania]

Dear Asher.. i did not become a journalist yet

Banafsheh sent them to me and i posted them here and i will on my blog as well.
_________________
Referendum AFTER Regime Change

"I'm ready to die for you to be able to say your own opinions, even if i strongly disagree with you" (Voltaire)

[asher]

Well, congratulations to your friend then! Thanks for posting.