Either You’re with Us, or …
Shortly after 9/11, President Bush spoke to the nation. One phrase has been repeated around the globe since then. He said, speaking to the nations of the world: “Either you’re with us, or …. ”
And here, almost everybody got it completely wrong.
President Bush did not finish his phrase with: “ … or you’re against us.” What the president said was: “Either you’re with us, or you’re with them.”
This is completely different from “ …or you’re against us.” It’s not just different words, it’s an entirely different concept. You can be “against us” without a shred of being “with them.” In fact, you can be “against us” and “against them” at the same time.
“With us” and “with them,” however, are mutually exclusive concepts. President Bush chose his words carefully:
“You’re with us or you’re with them,” he said to the nations of the world. “You’re with us or you’re with them,” he told the people of Earth.
“You’re with us or you’re with them.”
This week, defense firms located in the French Republic (translate this as French arms companies) delivered a large inventory of Gazelle attack helicopter spare parts and an even larger inventory of Mirage F-1 fighter spares to the Iraqi military, according to a March 7 article in The Washington Post and follow-up reporting on Fox News and elsewhere. The parts were ostensibly sold to the Al Tamoor Trading Co., based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and then transferred by truck into Iraq.
Let’s run that by again: The French just sold the Iraqis all the spare parts they need to keep their Gazelle attack helicopters and Mirage fighters in the air in the event we go to war, the same helicopters and fighters that will be shooting at our boys.
“You’re with us or you’re with them .… ”
Somebody just delivered 24 railroad boxcars full of pentolite explosives to the Iraqis, according to a Pentagon statement. An oil worker from Kirkuk who escaped on March 12 to the Kurdish-held sector of northern Iraq , says that even now Iraq is deploying this very effective high explosive (the same explosive used in Stinger shoulder fired missiles) around its oil fields in mines and booby-traps. Who has that kind of manufacturing capacity, the will to make it happen, and is sufficiently close to bring it off?
I can think of three countries: France, Germany and Russia.
“You’re with us or you’re with them …. ”
e not idle musings. We are readying for battle, and our French “ally” is supplying the other side with weapons and the means to keep fighting. What possible reason can we have for dealing with these people? What possible justification is there for allowing them to thwart our will in the United Nations, or to profit from dealing with our enemy?
Iraq owes Russia about $8 billion. But we have promised that a new Iraqi government will honor that debt. Russian President Vladimir Putin may be flexing his muscles in the United Nations, but he is unlikely to supply Iraq with significant armament. It seems out of character.
On the other hand, Germany is responsible for designing and building Hussein’s deep bunkers. Intelligence hints at German complicity in Iraqi nuclear adventures. Germany is actively involved in Iran ’s nuclear push.
“You’re with us or you’re with them …. ”
America is the most powerful nation on Earth. We have more tugboats than France and Germany together have warships. These countries are absolutely dependent upon us for maintaining their lifestyle. On the other hand, our wine is better, we can do just fine without Mercedes and BMW, and both Portland and Boston make beer finer than anything the Germans brew.
Why are we catering to these fair-weather friends? President Bush made it absolutely clear: “If you’re not with us, you’re with them,” and it’s as clear as it can be that France and Germany no longer side with us.
I’m not proposing that we attack either country, but I call for a total, absolute economic boycott and military quarantine of France , and inform Germany it is next if it persists in its behavior. Detach one carrier task force from the Arabian Sea , and make France an offer it can’t refuse: Close French ports, halt French shipping, land French planes; shut them down for the duration. We can do Iraq with a few less ships.
The French and German socialist states will collapse without American subsidies and the American market. Let them stew in their own morass until we have replaced Hussein, after which we can deal with them and their misplaced arrogance.
“You’re with us or you’re with them …. ”
Robert G. Williscroft is DefenseWatch Navy Editor
