Distinctions
Feb 23rd, 2007 at 1:57 pm by Maya
Amazing how, despite all we’ve done to sour it, we still essentially have Europe’s support over the events of 9/11.
Those distinctions have both practical and legal foundations: While a defeat of the US in Iraq might be troubling for the West, an accompanying defeat in Afghanistan would be “catastrophic,” says a Brussels-based European diplomat.
“The war in Afghanistan is seen by Europeans as having a real basis in the events of 9/11, under UN rulings of the right of self-defense,” says Adam Roberts, a professor at Oxford University, “and this is seen as different from the war in Iraq.
“In Afghanistan, efforts at transformation are multilateral, as distinct from Iraq,” he adds. “In Afghanistan, 2 million refugees have returned, whereas in Iraq, 2 million refugees have left. There is still a strong tendency to draw these distinctions, despite European concern over US policy, which is very widespread.”
It appears that they’re also more comfortable with nuance than your average American line-tower.
