FINE, NOW WALK THE WALK:

Confidence in America is badly shaken (William Pfaff, September 21, 2002, International Herald Tribune)

It cannot be emphasized enough to Washington that in today's world the United States depends on Western Europe, above all on Germany; it is not Western Europe that depends on the United States.

We know that history is read only selectively in Washington, but someone should look up what happened in 1966, at a time when NATO's headquarters were at Fontainebleau in France and there were important NATO bases in the country.

General Charles de Gaulle abruptly decided to withdraw France from NATO's military committee, which meant an end to French military integration in the alliance, while maintaining France's alliance commitment to mutual defense. NATO had to move its headquarters to Belgium and close down its air bases and other facilities in France.

That betrayal of course provided LBJ with one of the few good moments of his presidency. When DeGaulle called and demanded that all U.S. military personnel be removed from French soil, LBJ asked: "Including the ones buried in it?"
Posted by Orrin Judd at September 21, 2002 6:48 AM