USS Clueless              Voyages of a restless mind

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Stardate 20011105.1155 (On Screen): The impetus to do something even if it is meaningless has become overwhelming in certain quarters, such as the capitols of Europe. So most of the heads of the EC met in London to consult about the war that most of them aren't fighting, evidently so as to decide how the US should conduct the war. Notably, the US wasn't present at the meeting (in as much as it was EC and not NATO).

"We were unanimous on the absolute need to find a solution to the current problems of the Middle East,'' Chirac told reporters after leaving Blair's Downing Street residence.

Yup, they took the bold step of actually coming out to say that it would be really nice if there could be a solution. What a monstrously brave step. Pfeh.

"We reaffirmed our complete solidarity with the Americans, while being aware that...military action is not the only way to fight international terrorism and that we must reinforce the means of finding a political solution to the organization of Afghanistan,'' Chirac said.

I have a suspicion that there was a mistranslation in this, in as much as nearly everything said here is inconsistent with the concept of "complete solidarity". Is there a French word for "complete" which implies "only partial"? (The way that the Japanese often use the word "Yes" to mean "No"?)

In fact, the most intelligent comment about the whole enterprise came from Portugal, which didn't attend:

Absentee Portugal raised a dissenting voice on Sunday's London meeting. "Initiatives of this type contribute neither to the cohesion of the anti-terrorist coalition, nor to European unity,'' a cabinet source told Reuters in Lisbon, adding such limited meetings among EU nations "should not set a precedent.''

I couldn't have said it better myself. (discuss)