September 11, 2004
ALL ITS WARS WERE IN VAIN (via Eugene S.)
Sparks fly over EU-Turkey remarks (UPI, 9/08/04)
Dutch Commissioner Fritz Bolkestein said earlier this year Turkish membership would turn the EU into "little more than a glorified customs union," but in a speech at Leiden University in the Netherlands Tuesday, he claimed that "immigration pressure" from the south would mount dramatically.He quoted Islamic history scholar Bernard Lewis, saying that by the end of this century Europe would be predominantly Islamic.
"If he turns out to be right, the liberation of Vienna in 1683 will have been in vain," Bolkestein said, referring to the Polish, German and Austrian armies that freed Vienna from a siege led by Ottoman Turks.
Turkey, unlike Europe, has a future--it belongs in NAFTA, not the EU. Posted by Orrin Judd at September 11, 2004 11:39 AM
I would enthusiastically welcome the Turks into NAFTA, (which would have to be renamed*), but Turkey isn't led by philosophical descendants of the Ottomans, rather the opposite. One might just as well claim that the liberation of Vienna was the harbinger of modern Turkey.
*Why not sell naming rights to acts of Congress and treaties, with the money going into the general fund ?
We could have the MoveOn.org campaign finance reform act, the Microsoft free trade agreement, the University of Phoenix education bill...
There's nothing wrong with free trade with Turkey, but we really should keep them from immigrating here, with the exception of some techies and business students who study here for a short period.
Posted by: Bart at September 11, 2004 12:23 PMWhy?
Posted by: oj at September 11, 2004 12:35 PMA better write-up of Bolkestein's speech, by the inveterate Ambrose Evans-Pritchard.
Bolkestein's scandalous speech, in German translation.
Of course you read German. Just imagine that it's Yiddish or Pennsylvania Dutch :-)
Posted by: Eugene S. at September 11, 2004 12:38 PMIt's going to be messier than any one of us can imagine. In the end, Europe will not succumb to Islam quietly.
Young secular Muslims will attempt to break free of their parents' yoke. Many of them will abandon religion altogether.
There will be intermarriage, more between Turks and Euros than between Arabs and Euros.
At the same time, Orthodox, Protestants, Catholics, in eastern Europe will noisily clamor for influence.
Many western Europeans will turn to Christianity, but that won't change the large demographic trend.
There will be balkanization -- economic, ethnic, cultural, religious, geographic -- to dwarf pre-WWI Europe.
Several regional wars. 19-year olds in Ft. Lejeune getting ready to be shipped across the Atlantic, again.