Complete Childishness

Trade sanctions on French products?

Now, I think the French position on Iraq is self-defeating, dangerous, and willingly blind. I think the effort the French government has gone in order to try and prevent an Iraqi war is about as un-allylike as you can get. They don't have to agree with us, but they certainly don't have to actively oppose us and flagrantly break trust with Turkey over NATO protection. The anger in Washington is admirable and I think it's justified.

However, imposing trade sanctions on bottled water and wine is stupid. I disagree with economic sanctions in principle as it constitutes government intervention in the market. It signifies that Dennis Hastert, Tom DeLay, and the Republicans who agree with them don't really take their free-trade positions seriously and honestly. Obviously, they support trade sanctions against North Korea, Cuba, and Iraq (to name a few), so they were never truely serious about free trade...but to use them punitively, out of anger, and in order to punish is immature, unprincipled, and frankly just looks bad.

Some members of Congress are suggesting the United States impose trade sanctions on France and withdraw U.S. troops from Germany to retaliate for opposition to U.S. policies on Iraq, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert has told associates he would like to target bottled French mineral water and wine, the paper said.

"France and Germany are losing credibility by the day and they are, I think, losing status in the world,'' the Post quoted House Majority Leader Tom DeLay as saying. "They are walking a fine line that is very dangerous.''

Hastert has instructed Republican colleagues to determine whether Congress should pass laws that would new impose health standards on bottles of Evian and other French waters, the paper said.

[...]

The Post said the speaker also is exploring whether the United States should require ``bright orange warning labels'' on French wines that are clarified with bovine blood.

Such is the idiocy you get when you put humans in charge of institutions that have given themselves the power to impose force on other people's lives.

Posted by Drizzten at February 12, 2003 11:23 PM