Question

Why exactly do the Europeans need a Plan B?

All that the Europeans care about is being able to say to George Bush, "We told you so." What happens the morning after "We told you so" ? Well, the Europeans don't have a Plan B either.

I can come up with a few reasons why, but none are even close to sufficient in order to get involved in the mess Dubya has made (and it's not like the administration has really been asking them or making it easy for them to help out anyway).

This is retarded as well:

Mr. Kouchner blames Paris for having been too quick to threaten a U.N. veto

Friedman says that as if it was a good thing. News Flash: THERE WERE NO WMD'S!

This is the same sort of shit that happened to guys like Scott Ritter... those who were dead on right prior to the war got marginalized in the aftermath while only those who pushed for war are seen as having some sort of measure of credibility.

The final strangeness is here:

...that they saw themselves as Muslims first and French citizens last...

Put aside the rest of the stuff in that paragraph for a second and ask this question: given the choice between being considered a Christian or an American first, which do you think most Christian Americans would pick? I certainly know what I would say...

Sigh... maybe I should just let Friedman go... he has certainly let himself go, that's for sure. I am certain that I could go to some place in the heartland and find some quotes from a couple weirdos in order to fit my pet theories. I am not saying there are not issues here; rather, I certainly am a big proponent of waging a culture war for change in the Islamic World (one that does not require military war). However, this is standard Friedman tripe... take a sample number of 2 and write like that's how everyone is everywhere.