Text 23117, 60 rader
Skriven 2008-11-04 12:24:42 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
  Kommentar till text 23056 av Ward Dossche (2:292/854)
Ärende: Money, Money, Money.
============================
Ward Dossche wrote to Robert Bashe on Monday November 03 2008 at 17:48:

WD> I'm moving to Germany ... just got the bill for the road-taxes for my
WD> Chrysler ... 507 Euro ... that's a 2400cc.

For the German market, that's quite a large engine (my station wagon is 1600 cc
and I currently pay around EUR 250 a year).

WD> But I understand the point you're making.

I thought you would.

WD> Why is it that every discussion with an American eventually leads to
WD> Hitler or the Balkan war?

Possibly because some Europeans claim to be such peaceful types and the
Americans such warmongers, conveniently forgetting the slightly less than
peaceful history of Europe in the last century.

WD> The former's reign was made indirectly possible by the US's late
WD> involvement in WW1...

Nice way to turn the tables. But if you're going to blame WWII on the States -
which I personally think is ridiculous - blame Mr. Smoot and Mr. Hawley, since
their tariffs were one of the major factors cutting down international trade
and exacerbated the already terrible economic situation in Germany. And bad
times tend to lead to extremism, with people calling for fast, simple, brutal
methods to improve the situation.

WD> ... and the Balkan war could not be prevented by Europeans because it
WD> had been US official policy to actively counter any European
WD> initiative to create a European Corps for interventions.

I can still remember the endless "negotiations" with Mr. Milosevic and Mr.
Karadzic, particularly in Germany but also in the UN, and the increasing
impatience of the Americans with European inaction aka "diplomacy" and lack of
support. What the US didn't want was a competitive organization to NATO, and if
you consider the "unity" of the EU nations in crisis situations, you'll
understand why. At least NATO acts if necessary and when pushed hard enough,
whereas the EU nations haven't agreed on much except agricultural subsidies and
the Euro over the years. Oh, yes, and the curvature of banannas.

And then there's a country like Germany, where every military action has to be
approved by the full parliament.

A European Intervention Corps is a fine idea, if the idea is not to replace but
to augment NATO, but it's as unrealistic as a unified labor policy in the EU.
Fine in theory, impossible in practice - at least under the current situation.
The EU is simply not a "United States of Europe" with simple, direct chains of
authority, but a squabbling horde, where everyone's main agenda is getting the
best deal for his country and himself.

It took the States more than 200 years to develop a sense of national unity,
and the cultural and linguistic differences in the EU did not exist there. So
I'm not holding my breath until the EU becomes a unified, active entity.

Cheers, Bob

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