Re: Race of the Vassals

> France, going back to DeGaulle, has always been unhappy about US
hegemony, so I don't think its seen as that big a deal that its grumbling.
>

Chirac, Putin, and Jang, (and probably Schroeder) will all go with the USA,
by abstaining in the vote in the Security Council, which will come before
the official declaration of war.  Reason: "USA inc." will either succeed in
its aim of governing western Asia, or it will collapse, in which case so
will its European counterparts.  The European states and Russia can
therefore not afford to be too much of a cog in the USA wheel.  China's
development would also be set back, but not permanently, so it's position
is unpredicatble.

Having said that, I believe that the governing parties in a majority of the
eight signatory states will rue this day.  Aznar in particular was
suffering from his poor response to the recent oil disaster off the coast
of Galicia.  This latest faux pas may serve to bring down his government
before anyone expects