ICHEOKU says Julius Caesar was stabbed severally but it was only Brutus stab that he felt most and complained about with his iconic line "Et tu Brute". It is against this background that France felt deeply betrayed by the United States in sidelining it from the newly established Indo-Pacific defense pact known as AUKUS with Britain and Australia. France strongly feels that, having helped America during the war of independence against Britain and continues to faithfully be their friend, that it has showed enough of abiding love for America to earn their full and unequivocal trust. But for America to now go behind their back and enter a defense pact with only Australia and Britain, the same country which France helped it defeat, is somewhat unfair; the reason it is lashing out.
Now, that France has recalled its ambassadors from the United States and Australia, the first time in recorded history, in protest of what it considers an act of betrayal, a stab on the back; will America and Australia retaliate in kind by also recalling their own ambassadors from Paris. Or will they rather adopt a wait and see attitude to gauge the French and know whether Paris will take further steps in their protestation or will have sufficient time to cool off and calm down; and resume normal relations by sending back their recalled ambassadors. It is obviously too early to call as their hurt feeling is still raw and emotions still running high; their bruised ego is still heavily bleeding. More time will be needed to see what the overall ramifications will be, provided a tit for tat diplomatic recall of America's ambassador will not take place.
It is rather ironical that President Emmanuel Macon, who lauded Joe Biden's coming to power because of Trump's go it alone policy, is now watching as Joe Biden did not carry France or Europe along as he entered this new military and defense pact with only Britain and Australia. Even America's northern neighbor and ally Canada was equally kept out in the cold as the woke liberalist tendencies of their Prime Minister Justin Trudeau does not meet Joe Biden's expectations of the seriousness required of the membership of the new military pact. Then add New Zealand which was also not invited to the new club, and France should have some consolation because not even all the 'Five Eyes' countries were considered worthy of membership of AUKUS.
But it is obvious that a ticked off France cannot be reacting so angrily as to recall their ambassador just because it was denied a place at the dinner table of AUKUS. Champs Elyse` is mad as hell because the new alliance took away its expected income from the $66 billion gas powered submarines contract which it entered with Australia. A contract which has now been canceled and replaced with nuclear powered submarines to be manufactured and supplied by America and Britain. The income and the jobs from this contract which have been taken away from France and French workers, and now going to America and Britain and their workers is what Paris is seething about and going into a tizzy as a result. It is about the economy of France and if France could go to war to revert to the status quo ante and keep the contract, it would.
Unfortunately, the world is jungle and to the mightiest goes the topmost position in the pecking order. So, it does not matter whether France likes or not because what America wants America gets or takes it by force if need be. It is possible too that Washington DC calculated that had France been invited, there will be a need to also add Germany, Italy, Spain and some other countries in the European Union which might eventually make it the entire EU. So, it made a calculated decision not to bring the socialist politics of Europe Union into the AUKUS by leaving out every member of the bloc. It is a fact that the headaches of NATO is more than enough already for America and there is no need replicating NATO in the new AUKUS defense pact. The European Union is increasingly becoming too woke and too far leftist liberal to be taken seriously in matters of war any more.
It shows that it is not just only President Donald John Trump that is tired of the mess created in the European Union, where everything is being clogged up and sacrificed on the alter of appeasement politics of meeting and satisfying everyone's feeling, no matter how petty, absurd and idiotic. So, a France wishing to regain its glory must find a way of pulling out of the European Union and reestablish its independence, with its own thinking and decision making processes restored and not tele-guided from Brussels. European Union is not working, have never worked as too many hands always spoil the broth. America is getting very impatient with European Union and it is effecting its relationship with members of the bloc. This is the most plausible reason why France was shafted by America and kept out of AUKUS.
Now that European Union Chief Madam Angela Merkel has finally left her high office, it will be a good time to revisit the relevance of the bloc, dilute it down or even scrap it all together. That done, the countries can once again regain their freedom as independent countries with power to make their own decisions. They can keep their Euro currency, they can keep their open border travel arrangement and they can also keep their duty free economy; but they must revert to their respective and independent freedoms of self determination, foreign policy, internal affairs matter and the ability to enter negotiations and make pacts as individual countries. They do not have the will to forge EU into one country akin to the United States of America by having their own United States of Europe that is fully integrated into one government.
But for them to want to deal as EU in some areas and want to go it as separate countries in some other areas, creates more confusion and problems than they set out to solve by forming the union. So, France must understand this imperative sufficiently so that, instead of throwing tantrums like a child whose candy was taken away, must decide how it wants to proceed or be treated going forward. Does it want to be treated as an independent country like United Kingdom or tolerated as a piece of the EU giant maze as just France. It is only when their President Emmanuel Macon can effectively answer this question that France can once again be meaningfully respected and enough to be brought along before the train leaves the station.
Until then, they should prepare to only play assigned roles going forward, but not to be at the center table making decisions. Woke liberal politics is a cancer eating deep in the heart of Europe and it has almost grounded decision making process of so many countries therein. Joe Biden gets it and Joe Biden has the testicular fortitude to do what needs to be done to put everyone in their rightful place. In fact, with this AUKUS, he took Trump's America First policy to the next level and ran with it. Therefore, it is for Emmanuel Macon to decide what he wants to do, keep his ambassadors or send them back; and then begin to negotiate the way forward for France or better still form his own alliance with Russia and Germany. Although the disgraceful slap by a French guy still reverberates, but this AUKUS snub hurts badly and probably even more. It is sad.
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