Submitted by howard lohmuller, Sep 26, 2007 08:38

Americans should be thankful that Western Europe led by France, Britain and to some degree Germany are shifting their public discourse in favor of American foreign policy, particularly in the Middle-east. The new French leader has perhaps been the most vocal in defending the Iraq war. Mr Zarkozy after all is a conservative and should be expected to warm to the Conservative administration in America. But Mr. Zarkozy has other reasons for his Iraq support. One reason is that he wants to cut the hands off of the French Socialists whom were dipping into the Iraq jelly jar, stealing money and influence through the "oil for peace " program for example. Another is that he wants to prevent Russia from gaining a permanent advantage and more market share in energy distributed to Europe. Iraq has huge oil reserves as does Russia and control or near control by Russia in cooperation with Iran might allow Russia to control or influence near half of the world's oil supply. Finally to succeed with his domestic conservative plan for France to break the Union-Socialist grip on the French psyche, he needs moral support from us and other Conservative friends. So let's be thankful for the additional support from Western Europe, Eastern Europe is already solidly in our camp, but not comfortable. All countries treat their own affairs as first priority. We must continue to move the ball forward mainly under our own power.

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