Boycott France?

[Auburn85 432]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,148011,00.html

Renewed Call to Boycott France

Friday, February 18, 2005

By Bill O'Reilly

When are we Americans going to wise up? How many times does the French government, led by Jacques Chirac (search), have to put all of us in danger before we get the picture? France is helping worldwide terrorism.

Here's the latest. France has said no to Secretary of State Rice, who asked the Chirac government to designate Hezbollah (search) as a terrorist group. If France would do that, Hezbollah could not raise money in Europe, which it is now doing through various charitable fronts.

There is no question Hezbollah is a terrorist group. It was responsible for killing more than 200 U.S. Marines in Lebanon (search) back in 1983. And since then has murdered thousands of civilians primarily in and around Israel.

The secretary general of Hezbollah, a guy named Hassan Nasrallah, has openly stated that the group's slogan is "death to America." Hezbollah's head of security, a guy named Imad Mugniyah, met at least once with bin Laden and has a $5 million price tag on his head put there by the U.S. government.

Hezbollah is funded and harbored by Iran and Syria. And even the new Palestinian leadership wants them branded a terrorist group because they oppose any peaceful solution vis-a-vis Israel.

Jacques Chirac won't call Hezbollah terrorists. When is enough enough, ladies and gentlemen? When will the American people realize that Chirac and his minions are putting this country and millions of other of people in danger?

So I am again calling for all responsible people not to buy French products, not to travel to France, and to contact the French embassy in Washington, and let them know Chirac's conduct is unacceptable.

Now President Bush travels to Europe on Sunday. He'll meet with Chirac in Brussels. The administration continues to tell us things are improving regarding France. Don't believe it. Until we see the French government do something to help in the war on terror, we should consider that country hostile to our safety.

And so, the boycott of France is on. Bumper stickers are available on www.billoreilly.com. Get a bunch of them. Spread the word. France is helping Hezbollah and other terrorists. Until that stops, we're not buying their stuff. No spin, no whine.

[Tigermike 3,053]

But where will I get my Foie Gras?

Schwarzenegger Bans All Sales of Foie Gras in California

Somehow, this crazy bill got signed

I'm going to admit something here that people will probably get pissy about. I'm a food snob. There, it's out in the open. And while I can't usually think of anything nice to say about France, I do have to admit they know food.

I can't live without foie gras. I don't eat it every day, but once a month, at least, I want my foie gras.

For those of you that don't know, foie gras is made by force-feeding ducks and geese to create creamy, fat-engorged livers. Mmmm...creamy, fat-engorged livers.

Animal rights activists take exception to this centuries old technique of making foie gras.

Two weeks ago about 15 demonstrators assembled in front of the French Laundry in Yountville, one of the nation's most notable restaurants, distributing fliers and carrying placards showing graphic photographs of dead or dying birds.

French Laundry happens to be my favorite restaurant in the US. The food is so good there that I wouldn't care if I had to kill the birds myself right there at the table. If there's one thing I can't do without, it's good food and wine.

I find it ridiculous that fine cheeses have to pasteurized in America. Now they want to take away my ******* goose livers. I know we have more pressing problems than taking decent food out of restaurants.

Don't get me wrong, I eat frozen pizza and sandwiches all week. I like White Castle. I like Del Taco. I?m the king of frozen meals. I like Cheez-Wiz for Christ's sake. But on the weekend I want finely prepared food and a good cab. Maybe even a claret, if I'm in the mood. And what's more, I want it served on Royal Doulton China. I want a sommelier who knows more than I do. I want a staff who knows exactly what to do and when to do it. I want ambience and the best of fine liquors, including a selection of Armagnacs and I want it done right.

What I don?t need is people telling me I can't have my foie gras.

http://www.sanitys-edge.com/archives/2004/...arzenegger.html

[TrueBlue72 0]

HELL YES!!!! Boycott France and everything French!!! I made the decision to do so when France sided with Saddam and thier profiteering through the oil for food program. To hell with France and the French. The United States has made concessions to allow the French to feel that they have some significance in the world order. I say, let them fend for themselves and feel as insignificant as they truly are.

[Auburn85 432]

I don't know about you, but I don't think Bush enjoys talking all nice and being cozy with Chirac. He does realize that he has to get help from someone, even if it is from France.

I mean the UN trusted Saddam to feed hispeople, but they couldn't trust us to have a fair presidential election, and that was it for me with the UN

[TexasTiger 13,026]

HELL YES!!!!  Boycott France and everything French!!!  I made the decision to do so when France sided with Saddam and thier profiteering through the oil for food program.  To hell with France and the French.  The United States has made concessions to allow the French to feel that they have some significance in the world order.  I say, let them fend for themselves and feel as insignificant as they truly are.

147730[/snapback]

Who else you gonna boycott? US?

Documents: U.S. condoned Iraq oil smuggling

Trade was an open secret in administration, U.N.

(CNN) -- Documents obtained by CNN reveal the United States knew about, and even condoned, embargo-breaking oil sales by Saddam Hussein's regime, and did so to shore up alliances with Iraq's neighbors.

The oil trade with countries such as Turkey and Jordan appears to have been an open secret inside the U.S. government and the United Nations for years.

The unclassified State Department documents sent to congressional committees with oversight of U.S. foreign policy divulge that the United States deemed such sales to be in the "national interest," even though they generated billions of dollars in unmonitored revenue for Saddam's regime.

The trade also generated a needed source of oil and commerce for Iraq's major trading partners, Turkey and Jordan.

"It was in the national security interest, because we depended on the stability in Turkey and the stability in Jordan in order to encircle Saddam Hussein," Edward Walker, a former assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, told CNN when asked about the memo documents.

"We had a great amount of cooperation with the Jordanians on the intelligence side, and with the Turks as well, so we were getting value out of the relationship," said Walker, who served in both the Clinton and Bush administrations.

The memos obtained by CNN explain why both administrations waived restrictions on U.S. economic aid to those countries for engaging in otherwise prohibited trade with Iraq.

The justifications came at a time when the United States was a staunch backer of U.N. sanctions on Iraq imposed after it invaded Kuwait in 1990.

"Despite United Nations Security Council Resolutions," a 1998 memo signed by President Clinton's deputy secretary of state, Strobe Talbott, said, "Jordan continues to import oil from Iraq."

But Jordan had a "lack of economically viable alternatives" to Iraqi oil, Talbott's memo said.

Talbott's memo lauded Jordan's commitment to the Middle East peace process, citing the late King Hussein's personal efforts to broker a resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

"Timely, reliable assistance from the United States fosters the political stability and economic well-being critical to Jordan's continuing role as a regional leader for peace," Talbott said.

Identical language was used four years later in a 2002 memo by Richard Armitage, undersecretary of state under President George W. Bush.

"Jordan has made clear its choice for peace and normalization with Israel," Armitage said, calling Jordan "an important U.S. friend" and citing its 2001 free trade treaty with the United States.

"U.S. assistance provides the Jordanian government needed flexibility to pursue policies that are of critical importance to U.S. national security and to foreign policy objectives in the Middle East," Armitage said.

Economic and military ties to Turkey were cited by Talbott and Armitage in justifying waivers of U.S. penalties to Iraq's northern neighbor. Indeed, their memos advocated hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the U.S. allies.

Talbott's memo praised Turkey for deploying troops to the peacekeeping mission in the former Yugoslavia, policing heroin trafficking through Turkey, and cooperating with enforcement of the "no-fly" zone in northern Iraq by allowing U.S. and British jets to use Incirlik, Turkey, as a base.

Armitage's memo said Turkey "provides irreplaceable assistance in countering the threat the Baghdad regime poses" and lauded the U.S. ally for sending troops to Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

"The primacy of Turkey's role as a front-line ally in the war on terrorism is expected to assume even greater prominence and urgency as the global war on terrorism continues," Armitage said.

Deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli told CNN Tuesday the waivers were given to Jordan and Turkey every year since 1998.

He called both countries "special cases" in which the money Saddam made through the smuggling did not allow him weapons.

"With Jordan and Turkey the circumstances were unique," Ereli said. "We approached them in a way that preserved key alliances and didn't help the regime of Saddam Hussein."

He added that Saddam's smuggling to Syria, which the United States tried to curtail, raised far more concerns because of the possibility of "dual use" goods reaching Iraq.

Illicit revenue

Estimates of how much revenue Iraq earned from these tolerated side sales of its oil to Jordan and Turkey, as well as to Syria and Egypt, range from $5.7 billion to $13.6 billion.

This illicit revenue far exceeds the estimates of what Saddam pocketed through illegal surcharges on his U.N.-approved oil exports and illegal kickbacks on subsequent Iraqi purchases of food, medicine, and supplies -- $1.7 billion to $4.4 billion -- during the maligned seven-year U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq.

The Government Accountability Office estimated last July that Iraq earned $5.7 billion from smuggling oil out of the country, especially to Jordan, Turkey, and Syria between 1996 and 2002.

A CIA-backed Iraq Survey Group report by former Iraq weapons inspector Charles Duelfer estimated last October that Saddam acquired $8 billion by smuggling oil to Jordan, Turkey, Syria, and Egypt through 2003, when oil for food ended with the toppling of Saddam.

The Senate Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations estimated last November that the Iraqi regime earned $13.6 billion by smuggling oil during the sanctions period it defined as 1991-2003, or five years before oil-for-food started.

The oil-for-food program is being investigated by U.S. congressional committees, the Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and a special committee appointed by the United Nations and led by former Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Paul Volcker.

Volcker's committee is to issue an interim report on Thursday. (Full story)

In an interview last month with the U.S.-based Arabic-language TV station Al Hurrah, Volcker said, "The big figures are smuggling, which took place before the oil-for-food program started, and it continued while the oil-for-food program was in place."

'Either silent or complicit'

Rep. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, one of five panels probing the oil-for-food program, told CNN the United States was "complicit in undermining" the U.N. sanctions on Iraq.

"How is it that you stand on a moral footing to go after the U.N. when they're responsible for 15 percent maybe of the ill-gotten gains, and we were part and complicit of him getting 85 percent of the money?" Menendez asked.

"Where was our voice on the committee that was overseeing this on the Security Council?

"The reality is that we were either silent or complicit, and that is fundamentally wrong."

Former State Department diplomat Walker said, "It was almost a 'don't ask, don't tell' kind of policy. It was accepted in the Security Council. No one challenged it."

John Ruggie, a former senior adviser to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said U.S. diplomats focused on assuring U.N.-approved shipments to Iraq were free of military components, and the United States felt Jordan and Turkey needed to be compensated for the adverse impact of the sanctions.

Ruggie said, "The secretary of state of the United States said each and every year that those illegal sales were in the national security interest of the United States. So it wasn't just that the U.S. was looking the other way."

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/02...aq.oil.smuggle/

[Auburn85 432]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/ISR...EMPLATE=DEFAULT

Israel Wants Hezbollah on EU Terror List

By JOSEF FEDERMAN

Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom called on the European Union on Monday to add the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah to its list of terrorist groups - a step that Europe has so far been reluctant to take.

Shalom said he reiterated the long-standing Israeli request during a meeting with his Belgian counterpart, Karel De Gucht.

Shalom told reporters that Hezbollah operates dozens of cells, works closely with violent Palestinian groups and offers them millions of dollars in assistance. "We see they make every effort to sabotage progress in the peace process," Shalom said.

De Gucht said the Israeli request "will be analyzed thoroughly" in Belgium, and that his government will take a formal stance on the issue ahead of upcoming EU talks on its list of terrorist groups. The EU talks are expected sometime after March, he said.

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The United States has also sought to persuade the EU to list Hezbollah as a terrorist group. But the European nations are divided on the issue, with France and several others objecting. The opponents say that the situation in Lebanon is too delicate for abrupt changes in EU policy.

Hezbollah has emerged as a major threat to a Feb. 8 Israeli-Palestinian truce. Palestinian officials have accused the guerrilla group of being behind a weekend suicide bombing that killed five Israelis in a bid to derail the cease-fire.

Israeli officials have blamed Syria for the attack. Islamic Jihad, a radical Palestinian group that is funded by Iran and based in the Syrian capital of Damascus, claimed responsibility.

Shalom said he hopes Europe will put greater pressure on Syria and Iran "to end their support for terror."

[Jenny AU-92 0]

Serious question - WHY is the EU refusing to do this? What is their justification, other than "the US wants us to so it must be a bad thing"? Hezbullah is not a trading partner, is not a political group in the true sense of the word, and has no positive impact on the European economy. Instead, they blow things up, kill people, and say "Death to America"... oh, wait, maybe that's it... :huh:

[TexasTiger 13,026]

Serious question - WHY is the EU refusing to do this?  What is their justification, other than "the US wants us to so it must be a bad thing"?  Hezbullah is not a trading partner, is not a political group in the true sense of the word, and has no positive impact on the European economy.  Instead, they blow things up, kill people, and say "Death to America"... oh, wait, maybe that's it...  :huh:

148775[/snapback]

Hezbollah's main focus is on Israel.

[Auburn85 432]

Serious question - WHY is the EU refusing to do this?  What is their justification, other than "the US wants us to so it must be a bad thing"?  Hezbullah is not a trading partner, is not a political group in the true sense of the word, and has no positive impact on the European economy.  Instead, they blow things up, kill people, and say "Death to America"... oh, wait, maybe that's it...  :huh:

148775[/snapback]

Hezbollah's main focus is on Israel.

148784[/snapback]

So should they be condemned as a terrorist group?

[Tigermike 3,053]

I think the main problem is that most all countries in the EU have been overrun so to speak with immigrants from Islamic countries. It has been projected that within the next 10 years or so the population of France will be 40+% Islamic. Not only is the Islamic population growing, but they are not assimilating into the culture of the countries where they live. For the most part they are living in poverty and are increasingly militant. In other words, the EU countries are scared shitless with the problem they are facing.

You say Hezbollah's main focus is on Israel. I would add that there is very little sympathy for Israel in Europe. In fact there is a good deal of open anti-Semitic feelings and behavior in Europe, especially France and Germany. Hesbollah has been smart enough to keep their activities aimed at Israel and therefore keep a fairly low profile worldwide.

[Jenny AU-92 0]

So then based on what you all have shared, since Israel (and the US, by default) are the only targets, Europe is just saying "Hey, not our problem... what's a few more dead Jews or Americans??"? How cheese eating surrender monkey is that?

[TexasTiger 13,026]

Serious question - WHY is the EU refusing to do this?  What is their justification, other than "the US wants us to so it must be a bad thing"?  Hezbullah is not a trading partner, is not a political group in the true sense of the word, and has no positive impact on the European economy.  Instead, they blow things up, kill people, and say "Death to America"... oh, wait, maybe that's it...  :huh:

148775[/snapback]

Hezbollah's main focus is on Israel.

148784[/snapback]

So should they be condemned as a terrorist group?

148791[/snapback]

I think so, but I agree with TigerMike on one reason they are reticent. Anti-semitism is probably a factor, but they are also less sympathetic to Israel than the US for reasons not necessarily tied to anti-semitism.

[Tigermike 3,053]

Serious question - WHY is the EU refusing to do this?  What is their justification, other than "the US wants us to so it must be a bad thing"?  Hezbullah is not a trading partner, is not a political group in the true sense of the word, and has no positive impact on the European economy.  Instead, they blow things up, kill people, and say "Death to America"... oh, wait, maybe that's it...  :huh:

148775[/snapback]

Hezbollah's main focus is on Israel.

148784[/snapback]

So should they be condemned as a terrorist group?

148791[/snapback]

I think so, but I agree with TigerMike on one reason they are reticent. Anti-semitism is probably a factor, but they are also less sympathetic to Israel than the US for reasons not necessarily tied to anti-semitism.

148971[/snapback]

What are those reasons?

[TexasTiger 13,026]

Serious question - WHY is the EU refusing to do this?  What is their justification, other than "the US wants us to so it must be a bad thing"?  Hezbullah is not a trading partner, is not a political group in the true sense of the word, and has no positive impact on the European economy.  Instead, they blow things up, kill people, and say "Death to America"... oh, wait, maybe that's it...  :huh:

148775[/snapback]

Hezbollah's main focus is on Israel.

148784[/snapback]

So should they be condemned as a terrorist group?

148791[/snapback]

I think so, but I agree with TigerMike on one reason they are reticent. Anti-semitism is probably a factor, but they are also less sympathetic to Israel than the US for reasons not necessarily tied to anti-semitism.

148971[/snapback]

What are those reasons?

148988[/snapback]

I don't disagree with anything you said. Anti-semitism is still fairly strong in many European countries-- cetainly moreso than here. The growing Islamic population is largely unasimilated, largely poorer, and increasingly militant. The potential for terrorism is in many ways greater in Europe than here and movement from country to country is fairly easy.

I also think, though, that Europe has been less inclined to always support Israel with little criticism as we have largely done. They are more likely to see the Palestinian perspective more favorably. Over the years of this conflict, both sides have not always been very reasonable, and being critical of Israel is not necessarily motivated by anti-semitism. And, as Jenny alluded to, Europeans are less likely to make a strong stand against groups like this.

They also have a different experience. For example, when Israel was fighting for an independent state, some of the tactics employed would also be characterized as terrorism:

Menachem Begin, Politician

* Born: 16 August 1913

* Birthplace: Brest-Litovsk, Belarus

* Death: 9 March 1992

* Best Known As: Prime Minister of Israel, 1977-83

Menachem Begin grew up in Russia and studied in Poland, where he joined Zionist forces to fight anti-Semitism. He moved to Palestine in 1940 and became the commander of the Irgun, a guerilla force responsible for terrorist acts against Arab and British military and civilian posts. Elected to the Knesset in 1949, Begin represented the conservatives, and by 1973 he was head of the Likud party. In 1977 he formed a coalition government and served as Prime Minister until 1983. As Prime Minister, Begin signed a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979 (sharing the Nobel Prize with Anwar Sadat), but was criticized for the 1982 invasion and occupation of Lebanon (led by Ariel Sharon). After he resigned, Begin lived in relative seclusion until his death.

http://www.answers.com/topic/menachem-begin

From the Russia of his childhood, Menachem Begin went to Poland to study. There he witnessed anti-Semitism first-hand and joined the youth wing of the hard-line Revisionist Zionist movement led by Ze'ev Jabotinsky.

This movement abhorred the socialist ideology behind other wings of Zionism, and advocated strong leadership and discipline.

In Palestine in 1940, Begin was incensed by British attempts to restrict immigration and instigated the underground military campaign against the mandate power. The British offered a reward for his capture, but they never caught him.

Under Begin's command, the underground terrorist group Irgun carried out numerous acts of violence.

In 1946 Irgun blew up the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, killing 91 people. In 1948 it took part in the massacre of Arabs in the town of Deir Yassin - an incident that accelerated the Arab exodus from Palestine on the eve of the founding of Israel.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/israel_a...files/81305.stm

Terrorist activity has been going on for a long time in that region. When the Zionists wanted a homeland, they engaged in it, too.

[AUslug 1]

In 25 years, France will become a majority Muslim country because the large influx of Islamic immigrants and decline of the European birth rates, so in about 75 years, most of Europe will be Muslim....kinda scary huh? The EU is scared of what would happen if they started getting tougher with Muslim extremist groups, because they do what would happen within their member countries. In the near future I think Europe will start to become more and more prone to terroist attacks by these extremist groups, and if it is France, watch them come running to the United States begging for help...again.

[Jenny AU-92 0]

In 25 years, France will become a majority Muslim country because the large influx of Islamic immigrants and decline of the European birth rates, so in about 75 years, most of Europe will be Muslim....kinda scary huh? The EU is scared of what would happen if they started getting tougher with Muslim extremist groups, because they do what would happen within their member countries. In the near future I think Europe will start to become more and more prone to terroist attacks by these extremist groups, and if it is France, watch them come running to the United States begging for help...again.

149045[/snapback]

Europe reminds me of that cell phone commercial where the guy says "Dudes, it's just a little bug bite" while his entire face is swelling up, ready to explode. What I resent is us warning them and warning them, and being blown off about it, then when things do explode and the poopie hits the fan, we have to come running to fix their mess without being able to say "I told you so." Ostrich mentality - but when your head is in the sand, your butt is in the air.

If they cracked down on Muslim extremism NOW, before it became an even bigger problem, they would be doing themselves a favor in the long run. Didn't they learn the lesson about appeasement oh, say 60+ years ago???

[AURaptor 1,126]

When did we ever stop boycotting France ? I have cut Fries( Freedom and all others ) from my diet, and I've never stopped NOT buying French items. Wait...'never stopped not buying...' . Yeah, something like that. I've don't buy French stuff. Period.

[TexasTiger 13,026]

When did we ever stop boycotting France ?  I have cut Fries( Freedom and all others ) from my diet, and  I've never stopped NOT buying French items. Wait...'never stopped not buying...' . Yeah, something like that. I've  don't buy French stuff. Period.

149062[/snapback]

Bold, moronic move. "French fries" aren't french. BTW, French's mustard isn't either.

[AURaptor 1,126]

]

Bold, moronic move.  "French fries" aren't french.  BTW, French's mustard isn't either.

149069[/snapback]

Guess sarcasm never made it out to Texas yet, huh?

[TexasTiger 13,026]

]

Bold, moronic move.  "French fries" aren't french.  BTW, French's mustard isn't either.

149069[/snapback]

Guess sarcasm never made it out to Texas yet, huh?

149102[/snapback]

My post was sarcasm, genius. At best, your's was just a bad attempt at humor.

The truth is, I bet you gave up French toast, too, and felt like a real patriot.

[AURaptor 1,126]

]

Bold, moronic move.  "French fries" aren't french.  BTW, French's mustard isn't either.

149069[/snapback]

Guess sarcasm never made it out to Texas yet, huh?

149102[/snapback]

My post was sarcasm, genius. At best, your's was just a bad attempt at humor.

The truth is, I bet you gave up French toast, too, and felt like a real patriot.

149104[/snapback]

You're running out of bad puns. I'll spare everyone the next one. Far to predictable.

[Auburn85 432]

You piece of s***

You m$%#** ****@!

I'm sorry

Pardon my French