WHY ARE THE TRUE BELIEVERS ALWAYS THE LAST TO GRASP THE IMPLICATION OF THEIR IDEOLOGY?:

Europe is failing two life and death tests. We must act together, now: The EU has taken great strides in the last decade. But when dealing with the world beyond, it is as weak and divided as ever (Timothy Garton Ash, 1/08/09, The Guardian)

Weak, divided, incoherent, hypocritical and infuriating - that's how you hear the EU described privately in Beijing and Washington. The events of this first week of 2009 suggest that our critics are entirely right.

Look at the mess we're in. Europe faces two acute crises that threaten both our interests and our values. The Gaza war is a negation of every principle for which Europe claims to stand. It directly affects our vital interests, not least because the latest round of Palestinian suffering (compounded by the Palestinians' own divided and irresponsible leadership) will further inflame the anger of Muslims living in Europe. The Russian-Ukrainian gas dispute has already resulted in elderly citizens of some eastern European member states shivering in unheated apartments. If protecting our people from dying of cold is not a vital interest I don't know what is. And this conflict, too, mocks European ideals of conflict resolution by peaceful negotiation under the rule of law.

Were that a European ideal then they'd have helped enforce the rule of law when Saddam violated the UN resolutions bringing peace after the first Gulf War. Rather, the secular European ideal is peace at any cost so that Europeans can grow old and die without being bothered by any principles. They do nothing about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict because it doesn't matter to them, any more than freezing Slavs. A society that's eager to kill the elderly when they make it to a hospital can hardly be expected to fret when they die at home and save the State some trouble.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 8, 2009 8:34 AM