Re: Bush began Iraq plan pre-9/11

Andreas Pour wrote:

>Guillaume Laurent wrote:
>  
>
>>Anyway, if all this hadn't been acknowledged and understood, the European Union could never have been made. 
>>    
>>
>
>Whether the EU is a good idea remains to be seen (my prediction is "no", though theoretically it could be if implemented properly).  What is clear is that the neo-cons are exerting great pressure for it to happen...
>  
>
As it is developing today, I agree with your prediction. But I think the 
point (or, at least what I would like to put forward as a new point in 
the case that Guillaume didn't mean this at all :)) is that the EU has 
(apparently) prevented war recurring in Europe.

European nations did not recognise until after the WWII that one side is 
rarely entirely to blame for any war; their fatal error after WWI which 
led to a repeat of hostilities. Instead, casting their differences aside 
allowed the formation of the EU (and earlier bodies with similar 
functions) which encouraged nations to work together for the common good.

The result of this is that the previously warlike Europe, which has 
throughout it's history had approximately one major internal war per 
generation, has now lasted 58 years with no internal war at all. While 
I'm sure many will not fail to be underwhelmed by this 'achievement', 
consider that this means we've missed out two major wars, both of which 
would likely have been nuclear, and at least one of which would have 
been in my lifetime (both in the lifetime of most adults). You should be 
able to see why this is pretty important to many Europeans, and why 
phrases such as "good" and "evil" are particularly repulsive, because 
they encourage the previous divisive thinking which we have learnt to 
discard.

The difference between the way the United States was formed and the EU, 
and their relative histories should also cast some light on the fact 
that many US Americans seem to have some trouble understanding this. In 
Europe, we continue to hope that the US will recognise that Europe is a 
valuable lesson when faced with political confrontation; we have already 
tried acting unilaterally, branding the opposing side as "evil" and 
ourselves as "good", and have had a long history of war as a result. 
Instead, embracing each other's differences and working together has 
proven (so far) to be the path to peace (internally speaking, in the 
case of Europe).


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