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British naval forces could have smashed any German attempted landing. That is sophmoric to presume otherwise. An Invasion of Great Britain never got beyond the general staff fantasy stage in the Werhacht and Great Britain knew it. If Hitler was to concentrate on Great Britain with all his might then Churchill would have caved like a girl (but Hitler had the Ostfront in mind always). Sure- emotion does play a role. All nations are made up of human rulers. But your judgement of France reads like a National Review hit job. The French are not ingrate weenies like the Neocon press makes them out to be. You are the one being simplistic. Do you make the slightest allowance that maybe France, Germany, and other continental powers are perhaps being at least prudent in suspecting American intentions in the Mideast? Place yourself in their shoes for a moment?

I am trying to understand what is motivating France and Germany in the Iraq situation. In Germany's case they have some investments in Iraq but nothing worth getting too excited about. Germany's position seems to have softened somewhat in the last two weeks. France may have manipulated Germany to some extent during the intitial phases of diplomatic maneuvering.

I have come to understand one thing about the French-German perspective on this crisis that I didn't fully appreciate before things came to a boil. France and Germany do not understand or sympathize with America's support for the State of Israel. From their perspective Israel is that "sh***y little country" and our support of Israel needelessy inflames the Arab world.

It is also a fact that the EU imports 100% of its oil most of it from the Middle East. Stability of oil prices is a life or death matter for the EU economies. It is a least understandable that they will find the prospect of conflict in the Middle East deeply alarming.

Having said that, however, it must also be observed that there is a significant gap between policy aspirations of the EU bloc and their capabilities. As was detailed in a recent Wall Street Journal article the armies of the EU are little more than jobs programs with little military effectiveness. The EU cannot project anything other than token military power at present. This reality makes EU diplomatic initiatives feckless.

The first Bush adminsitration gave free reign to an independent EU foreign policy during the initial phases of the Bosnian crisis. It was a disaster. The EU army was unable to supress the violence and diplomatically the EU effort was hampered by disagreements between Germany, France, and Britain.

The current German and French policy on Iraq is obstructionist; it doesn't offer a realistic alternative to the policy of the Bush administration. Because this obstructionism seems irrational I have sought a psychological explanation for the French and German posture.

If you have a more cogent rationale that better explains the French and German position I would love to hear it.