Solomonia Archive: Mark Steyn: The New Cold War: U.S. vs. EU

Monday, November 10, 2003

Mark Steyn: The New Cold War: U.S. vs. EU

Mark Steyn lays out the problems in typical Steynian style.

Here’s a round-up of recent items from the world’s press you may have missed: Item 1: In the last two weeks, two Toronto-bound El Al flights had to be diverted to other airports after credible terrorist threats were made about using surface-to-air missiles against them. The Canadian transport minister, David Collenette, responded by suggesting that the Israeli airline’s service to Pearson International Airport might be ended.

Item 2: The Baghdad hotel in which Paul Wolfowitz was staying was blown up. Several people were killed, though the US deputy defence secretary emerged unscathed. Much of the death and destruction was caused by French 68mm missiles ‘in pristine condition’, according to one US officer who inspected the rocket tubes and assembly. In other words, they’re not rusty leftovers Saddam had lying around from the 1980s. The Baathist dictatorship had acquired these missiles from the French rather more recently.

Item 3: According to Le Nouvel Observateur, ‘D’après un questionnaire de la Commission Européenne, 59% des Européens pensent qu’Israël est le pays le plus menaçant pour la paix dans le monde.’

Item 4: In the Guardian, Tariq Ali ended this week’s column on the mounting American (and NGO) death toll in Iraq thus: ‘Iraqis have one thing of which they can be proud and of which British and US citizens should be envious: an opposition’.[...]

Posted by Solomon at 9:29 AM on Monday, Nov 10, 2003 | Comments (2)
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2 Comments

#1 celestial blue | November 10, 2003 10:24 AM

As a Torontonian (who happens to work *right* beside the airport) I was stunned and disappointed to hear about the threat on El Al flights. And while I don't pretend to think it couldn't happen here, it was pretty amusing to a small extent to think that someone could get a rocket launcher here.
A while back on our local news there was a report of a shooting at a highschool...and when they showed the footage of the police carrying the gun away I laughed; it was a BB gun. And the other guy had retaliated with a sharp PENCIL.
Again, I'm not dumb enough to think you can't get a rocket launcher here, but it's a bit harder to achieve here than say, oh I dunno....almost anywhere else. (I won't name names and start a brawl. *wink*)

I hope other such threats do not continue....I am never amused to hear El Al threaten here, or anywhere else.
And I would have been angered and embarrassed as a Canadian had they discontinued allowing their flights here.
Mercifully they didn't.

#2 She Her | May 11, 2005 4:34 AM

just blast france to atoms, fellow muslims