Mullings: An American Cyber-column By Rich Galen

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Rooting for Saddam

Friday March 31, 2003

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For those who think our strained relations with France are more amusing than serious, consider a speech made by French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin at London's International Institute for Strategic Studies last week. According to a report by the London Times' Diplomatic Editor, Richard Beeston, M. de Villepin was expected to open the door toward a healing of relationships between France and the US/UK coalition:

"Instead, the flamboyant M de Villepin appeared to suggest that France would remain strictly neutral in the conflict. Although he appealed for a swift conclusion to the war with minimum casualties, he pointedly refused to say whether France wanted the US-led coalition to win."

According to an AP piece, "When asked after [the] speech if he wanted the coalition forces to win, Villepin said he would not answer, admonished reporters for not listening carefully and referred them to earlier remarks."

At least two English-language newspapers wrote that de Villepin had refused to say explicitly who he hoped would win the war.

One of the two newspapers was the London Telegraph, which reported:

But asked by The Telegraph whether he hoped American and British forces would win the military campaign to remove Saddam Hussein, he replied angrily: "I'm not going to answer. You have not been listening carefully to what I said before. You already have the answer."

The other, The Guardian, went back to the transcript of his speech which they reported as: "I naturally wish that this conflict finds a swift conclusion with the minimum possible number of casualties."

Which falls somewhat short of M. de Villepin adapting the battle scene from Les Miserables by standing on stage waving a large British flag.

All this, according to the AP, led the French Foreign Ministry to issue "a curt statement quoting Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin as saying on Monday: 'The United States, we hope, will win this war quickly.'"

It is clear from the reporting that is most assuredly NOT what de Villepin said. The French Foreign Ministry lied.

What a shock.

That thug at Columbia University masquerading as a teacher? This is the NY Times' description:

"The professor, Nicholas De Genova, ... called for the defeat of United States forces in Iraq, and said the only true heroes are those who help defeat the American military. He said Americans who call themselves patriots are imperialist white supremacists."

The president of the university said he was "especially saddened" and the "history professor who was one of the teach-in's organizers" said he found the remarks, "personally ... quite reprehensible."

That is the sum of the opposition by this institution of higher learning. Imagine, for a moment, the level of outrage which would be generated if a professor at Columbia University chose to begin his or her class with a prayer for the safety of our military personnel.

Much was made last week of the dis-invitation of Susan Sarandon from a speech she was scheduled to give to kick off a United Way "Women's Leadership program" in Tampa, Florida.

The purpose of the dinner, according to the United Way board of directors, was to foster volunteerism. Keep that in mind as you read on.

According to the UPI, "when invitations went out two weeks ago, [the United Way] received protests by contributors and others by phone, e-mail and letters." The board cancelled the invitation because the event was shifting its focus "to whether or not we were creating a political platform for Susan Sarandon."

Whether you agree with the United Way's decision or not, here's something which has been buried deep in the text, or ignored all together: This wonderful VOLUNTEERISM dinner at which Ms. Sarandon had agreed to speak? She was to have received an appearance fee of $20,000.

Now, that's entertainment.

On the Secret Decoder Ring page today: A GREAT catchy caption from Iraq; links to the de Villepin and the Columbia University dude's remarks; a photo of the Battle Scene from Les Mis; and the usual things.

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