Around this time last year, our nation was looking for support, to no avail, from our supposed allies in Europe in the impending war in Iraq. At the time it was thought to be surprising that countries like France and Germany would be so vocal in their opposition to the war in Iraq and refuse to lend aid in what we thought was a necessary conflict. The recent anti-Islamic trends in France and Germany aren’t only horrific, but serve as vindication for our government ignoring their opposition and going to war in Iraq without them.
Recently, the French government passed a ban on the traditional Muslim head-scarf, and the German government is expected to follow suit shortly. The scariest thing about the ban is the overwhelming majority of French leaders that supported it. It passed both houses of their version of Congress by votes of 541 to 36 and 276 to 20. Reasoning for the ban, as stated by one member of France’s government, was “protecting (their) heritage” even while acknowledging that the law has “no ideological foundation at all.”
The blind and ignorant persecution of Muslims in those countries should serve as compliments to the American people and government, and redemption in our choice to ignore opposition to war. While we were the subject of attack from Muslim radicals in 2001, and those countries weren’t, it’s they who have taken the road of persecution. With regards to Iraq, how could we have expected to gain support from morally vacant governments such as France and Germany, in a war with the objective of liberating a Muslim people, when those countries push for the restriction of rights for Muslims that are their own citizens?
The lack of value on freedom and hypocrisy of the French and German governments has been made clear by their actions the past year. France, liberated many a time in its history, and Germany, full of people that know the terror of tyrannical regime firsthand, ignored a call to liberate a people that could not fight for themselves. The early stages of Jewish persecution in that region are closer to being a headline in newspapers than history books long forgotten, and yet they mirror the same persecution against a single religion in their current actions. Their actions are barbaric, and their morality is in great question. Until those governments begin to prove otherwise, writing them off, such as we did at this point last year is the only reasonable course of action our country should take.
Don Donelson can be contacted at d.donelson@umiami.edu.