6/28/2005
EU round up
After working hard to pull them into the European Union, and out of the Iraqi War, some speculate that the French and Dutch really did not want to be sharing their elitist paradise super state with a mostly Muslim nation. The Brits on the other hand seem to prefer the EU to be an exclusively economic forum. Michael Mandelbaum thinks that getting the nations not yet a part of the EU involved would help the US, I disagree. Involving our allies, like The UK, Turkey, and Poland, or places like for former Yugoslavia in an economic state or even political superstate where unemployment is as high as it is in Germany and other members, and where corruption is paid less attention than third world birth rates is not good for America. What America should be doing with our allies is pulling them into a tighter trade relationship with us directly, not making encouraging them to become part of a hodgepodge of sharply contrasting ideologies that will eventually gut what little structural integrity the social, and economic infrastructures of those nations. If Bush had worked harder at pulling some of our allies into a closer relationship with us, we would have more allied boots on the ground in Iraq, and quite probably have used those troops to break the back of the insurgency by now. What could we do to encourage trade and closer ties? How about giving some of the same economic concessions we give to nations who don't do a positive thing on the world stage? China gets gravy by the gallons, and yet they sell weapons to places like Iran. How about offering accelerated visa processing for nationals of certain countries coming to the US for business or education? The current administration screwed the pooch, and now we'll get to see if Turkey, the Ukraine, and get into the EU, if they stay out, and what happens to them in either case.
