Weasel Pans Woody

So last night I met the French ambassador to the United States, Jean-David Levitte, at a little expat-Frog cocktail in Beverly Hills. Seemed like a perfectly nice guy, even if he looks a bit too much like a Gallic Trent Lott. Three minor things I got out of it: 1) He has a good line about how France, unlike certain members of the Coalition of the Willing, has never had the United States declare war against it. Don't know if it's true, but it's a good line. 2) Talking about the European journalists being sent back home from LAX last month, he said that accusations of the action being an anti-France plot were "paranoid." 3) Let's just say the idea of naming Woody Allen as spokesman for the "France Isn't So Horrible" campaign wasn't Levitte's. He described the selection of Soon-Yi's beau as a "disaster."

Comments

[Anonymous]

All ambassadors seem like "perfectly nice guys." It's their job to be like that.

(Please don't be fooled.)

[Dan]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't the first troops we fought in WW2, in Africa, French?

Ok, technically we didn't declare war on France, but we declared war on their (then) rulers, and they fought to defend those rulers.

[Rummy]

That reminds me: Technically we didn't declare war on Iraq, but we declared war on their rulers, and they fought to defend those rulers.

(This is great! Thank you!)

[Alex]

http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110003649

sorry if you've seen this already

[Kevin Carson]

Technically yes, Dan. But the Vichy forces in N. Africa in many cases only put up a token resistance, for the sake of saving face, before surrendering. It wasn't any special loyalty to Petain, so much as a desire not to appear so, well, *French*.

As for that great little quip about just declaring war on their rulers, it reminds me of a similar gem from Clausewitz. He wrote that wars were not started by the party that moved forces across a national frontier: that country would be more satisfied with a bloodless conquest. The war is started by the forces of the defending country when they start shooting back. Lenin had this passage heavily underscored in his copy of Vom Krieg.

[Mike E]

This "Gallic Trent Lott" is the ambassador for a has-been country in the death throes of international irrelevance right now, the least of his problems is Woody Allen . . .speaking of 'has-beens' and washed-up . . .

[Anonymous]

Which members, aside from Britain, of
the "Coalition of the Willing" exactly
had US declare war on them? Romania?
And how is this relevant?
And wasn't there the XYZ affair?

[Eric]

>

During the Adams, Jefferson, and Madison administrations, it was quite common for French naval ships to attack American merchant vessals, and to often press members of the crew into service. It led to Jefferson's Embargo, and almost led to the United States declaring war on France. Though in the end we decided that the British, who were engaging in the same activities, were a more inviting target.

[Mike E]

Are you sure Eric? I thought it was British impressment on the high seas that led to a war with Great Britain. It was the XYZ Affair, a messy ambassador scheme, that led to problems with le' French.

Maybe not.

[Lloyd]

Re: wars w/ France. Saw some author on Booknotes a couple months ago who wrote seemingly definitive account of our North African campaign. French may have put up less resistance than Germans, but it definitely was not "token" and in fact was much more determined than our intelligence had counted on. XYZ affair led to extreme pressure for war on France from media and congress, which John Adams, with his credibility as an antiFrenchie, was able to resist to his credit. Finally, don't forget Cinco de Mayo. Post civil war, we were definitely threatening war on Napoleon II before he pulled out. I did see Levitte on C-SPAN though, and agree he would make a fine replacement for Msr. de Villepin.

[Tim]

We never decalred war on China but managed to kill x million Chinese in the Korean War. So the point about not 'declaring' the war is a bit of a technicality, I think.

The US has fought against every major power of the last 200 years except one: Russia.

[frog]

are you sure levitte is french ambassador? Is he not from Israel ?