Plucky Little Britain.

Alone amongst the EU countries, Plucky Little Britain and its plucky little Prime Minister has walked away from the negotiating table, noisily demanding the right to be profligate with its national budget if it wishes.
Quite right too!
Was it not the combined brains of the (now) British taxpayer owned Greenwich Capital Markets which helped to invent the sliced and diced toxic bonds now polluting the bond market? They provided 20% of RBSs income. RBS and the other big banks provide 10% of the British Governmentâs income.
We could not possibly allow the centre of such excellence to be taxed or regulated by the EU!
How dare the struggling Eurozone countries â or at least Germany â seek to ensure that those they bail out with their tax payerâs savings actually balance their budget? How dare the other 26 dare to agree to such a thing, losing their national sovereign right to spend as they wish and demand the savings of the Germanâs make up the balance? The isolated Germans are demanding that they do so, or forfeit the right to any more German money.
It is outrageous!
Cameron is quite correct; it is Britainâs inalienable right to be the safe harbour for those who speculate on the money market, our sovereign right to henceforth bear the blame for not wanting to help clear up the mess.
What choice did he have â his party would have been split from top to bottom had he forgotten for one moment the absolute right of every true Englishman to hate those continental Europeans from the bottom of his heart?
So, this morning, true Englishmen are speeding in their HP debt loaded monster cars, along EU funded by-passes, to their nearest car boot sale to sell their boxed set of âX-Factor â 2010â and the DVD of âLittle Britainâ to the beneficiary of welfare payments, in order to pay for their Marks and Spencerâs Christmas lunch for two.
Secure in the absolute knowledge that Cameron has Done-the-Right-Thing.
Britain insulated â Europe isolated. 440 million people canât be right.
Dunkirk spirit folks, plucky little Britain can manage.
We can export to the Asian continent, or China, canât we? Weâve got 10% of our GDP to shift. Roll up, roll up.
Perhaps the Special relationship with the US will allow us to trade toxic bonds with them for a bitâ¦
For an alternative view of the British position, put the Daily Express down for a minute, and read some of the continental papers.
Donât bank on a warm welcome in your French gite this year. I donât know why you ever wanted one in the first place, I mean dammit, they donât even speak English! What sort of a person doesnât speak English?
December 13, 2011 at 21:33
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âDonât bank on a warm welcome in your French gite this yearâ.
You could well be wrong. Your hosts may well remember the results of the
2005 referendum, ask themselves why the Eurocrats over-rode the outcome of a
popular vote, and ask themselves why they canât have a government which does
what the Rosbifs have done (and indeed de Gaulle was prone to do) â namely
look out for their own countryâs interests.
December 12, 2011 at 11:14
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âEU funded by-passesâ
And where did the EU get the money from?
Yet another bizarre post from
Anna!
December 12, 2011 at 10:15
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As far as I can gather, no-one in the city (apart from a few hedge-fund
companies) was particularly bovvered by this deal. The âTobin Taxâ had a
requirement for unanimity, so Cameron didnât need to pick a fight about that.
The rest of the treay would have no impact on the city â according to the
City. What Mr Cameron DID need to do was throw a bone to the slavering
euroseptics in his own party who managed to whip up a load of hysterical
nationalistic nonsense (What, what, weâll all be forced to eat frogs legs and
bratwurst instead of good old churchillian bangers and mash, thin end of the
wedge donchaknow, agincourt, baaaahhhh). This veto has made absolutely no
difference to the deal, it will go ahead anyway. Cameron tried, and failed, to
get a few guarantees for the UK and US banks in the UK on the basis that he
would veto if he didnât. His bluff got called. The treaty will go ahead
anyway.
So it seems all Cameron has got is a few days of publicity and load
of cooing MPâs sending him chocolate for Christmas. My objection is that he
isnât representing the City of the long term interests of this country â he is
representing himself. What the hell is he doing demanding favours for American
Banks, donât they have their own damn governement to make representations for
them? Well the USA and the rest of the world isnât going to bother asking
Britain to help them (and so start a nice quid pro quo) because there will be
no point. Britain has no influence. Sarkozy, the jumped up little t****er, has
won. Congratulations Dave,a triumph of style over substance again.
December 12, 2011 at 09:11
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Oh, and by the way, I know even less about The Money Markets, but The Euro
still appears to be stronger than The Pound, much to my regret and the effect
that it is having on my basic British Pension. But you canât have
everything.
December 12, 2011 at 09:02
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I canât say that I have got the remotest idea about what is going on, and
nor has this blog made it any clearer, but I do feel that Cameron has made a
very foolish decision, although exactly why escapes me.
I have watched this
whole thing from ground level which is when Britain should have joined, if it
was going to. Any time after that was too bloody late.
And no wonder that
DeGaulle was a bit put out when Britain later changed itâs mind.
And too right Anna. I live here on a basic British Pension, and it ainât
easy. But infinitely preferable to living in Britain, which doesnât have much
to do with money, obviously.
I am currently doing my normal Winter thing,
which is sitting in bed with my lap top, two duvets and a hot water bottle,
quite pleasant actually, and it doesnât go on for all that long anyway. Spring
is only just around the corner.
December
11, 2011 at 23:43
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Cameron is no Europhobe: quite the contrary.
I believe pressure within the coalition from the Liberals (after all Iâm
sure he wants to stay in power for a full term) amongst others will force him
back to negotiate with the EU.
What next? Well, if I know the political establishment in the UK, we will
have to go crawling back to Europe, proffer abject apologies, roll over and
play nice doggy (please let me stay) rather than stick two fingers up to them
and go our own way. Huge concessions will have to be granted to the EU
commission, not on City trading, thatâs still probably sacrosanct, but
probably on fiscal oversight of governmental budgets and high street banking.
I wouldnât be surprised if that old chestnut EU-wide taxation was thrown in
for good measure.
A prediction would be to allow the EUâs transaction tax, but to make it
only liable on high street banking transactions, not on investment
banking.
In other words, we get screwed for more tax. Again.
December 11, 2011 at 23:26
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I simply refuse to take too much notice of the eu politiciansâ puffs (ours
included) produced for home consumption, or to take too seriously the
newspaper bias. Iâm saddened by but understand the BBC bias because itâs part
of the culture.
Iâve lived and worked a bit in Europe (and elsewhere),
since the early 70s. Iâve enjoyed some benefits from our treaties, but I donât
think we need to be joined at the hip to get along, or to relate to the rest
of the world.
I actually donât care if in theory it might be better if we
all subjugated ourselves to Brussels. It just isnât what I want to do.
I
donât wish it, but I think whats been agreed is going to bring a load of
trouble to the eu and certain eurozone states in the coming year.
December 11, 2011 at 22:13
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It is not all about money. Next will be driving on the right side of the
road. Maybe even reparations for not defending the maginot line. You never
know.
December 11, 2011 at 23:19
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I like irony
Iâm very comfortable driving on the right [right] side of
the road.
As are many, many more, unless they happen to be British or
former Britihh colonies â¦
Before you correct me: Surinam, Indonesia, Namibia and South Africa are
left-drivers too
December 12, 2011 at 00:59
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45 countries in total.
December 11, 2011 at 19:40
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The right to spend?
You really are in cloud cukoo land if you think an EU budget will ever
decrease!
The continental papers are a disgrace. What price democracy? One gets the
impression that the Germans think they have found just WHAT that price is and
think its a rather god deal for them. The French have no money of their own
they just hope to ride on the German money train using their weasel words to
gain some dishonourable advantage.
At this moment to be at the direct opposite position of those â¦â¦â¦â¦ suit me
fine. The opportunism disgusts me.
On another issue â does your reaction show just how effective a partisan
coordinated media operation can be? It can prevent people from thinking for
themsleves â just as intended.
December 11, 2011 at 19:58
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I take it you are talking about the British press? Do you think they
might be interested in British people thinking for themselves?
December 11, 2011 at 19:16
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With the benefit of no research of the newspapers mentioned-why should I?
nobody else seems to have read them either (possible exception Chatelaine,
well done madame)-allow me to pontificate.
What was proposed was overview of the various members budgets, with
potentially some undefined interference should they not concur with the
colleagues wishes. I agree with the majority viewpoint that this is a bloody
cheek, but it seems to me that it was a restatement of Maastricht, which
nobody took the slightest notice of, and accountancy being what it is, open to
broad interpretation, essentially useless. No matter, because the problem is
now too big and will be resolved by the markets not the bureaucrats. Anything
the EU attempts is too little, too late.
If I may summarize, nobody in that meeting had the slightest inkling of the
underlying problem, and were discussing issues several magnitudes removed from
the problem. Resolution of the problem now requires real cuts in government
expenditure as well as real control of banking excesses, no government is up
for that kind of hard and unpopular work.
And may I say how pleased I am that the landladyâs piss and vinegar levels
seem to have been restored. This discussion reminds me of the cacophany that
ensued when junior raccoon raided the crows nest in the backyard.
December 11, 2011 at 14:27
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FREEEEEEEEEEDOM! Hello World, weâre coming back.
P.S. I really could not
careless what they think in Euroland, theyâre too inward looking. Onwards,
outwards and upwardsâ¦
December 11, 2011 at 13:12
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So the EU have a plan but no details as to what or how it can be
implemented. Then thereâs all the countries that are for it, maybe against it,
donât know, need a referendum blah blah. A complete bloody mess that will get
worse ⦠who wants to be part of that? Whenâs the next âmost important EU
Summit meeting everâ? lâve lost count of the number weâve already had!
December 11, 2011 at 12:51
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Cameron did the right thing.
The Euro is an almighty mess. Merkozy know it. They wanted control of the
City of London to milk it. They didnât get it.
Fridayâs summit did absolutely nothing to address the underlying problems
of the Euro â itâs still hurtling towards a steep cliff, and despite polite
suggestions from British officials, there has been no change of direction.
Britain decided to get off. To my immense amazement, others decided to get on.
More fool them.
No, Anna â Britain has a long tradition of going it alone if it has too, so
weâre used to it. At least we can still manage our own financial affairs (or
elect out the idiots doing so on our behalf if we see fit) â we are not
beholden to either Brussels or Berlin, neither of whom we can elect out if we
see fit.
December 11, 2011 at 12:36
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FTT, Tobin Tax, whatever you want to call it was NOT in question.
Regulation of financial institutions in terms of capital adequacy was and
is.
December 11, 2011 at 12:41
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If it was not part if the plan then they would have allowed the Opt
Out.
December 11, 2011 at 18:15
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I donât think that follows either. Part of the problem was that Merkozy
wasnât going to âblinkâ and expected Cameron to back down. Another more
important part is that the French banks that have just been downrated by
Moodyâs ( Crédit Ag, Soc Gen and BNP Paribas) are all massively present in
London.
EU regulation of the Eurozone (or EZ+6) will drive more trades to
London unless they choose to hobble EU but non UK domiciled bandks
domestically in which case those bankâs clients will trade in London via
other institutions.
Political willpower will never trump economic reality in the longer
term and Iâm sorry that a self-declared libertarian pub like this one
could loose sight of that eternal truth.
December
11, 2011 at 12:30
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For once Anna Iâm unsure whether to read your post as satire or
cynincism?
I can only note that most of my limited circle of French
neighbours and friends have a similar, if less emotional, negative view of the
Euro and the EU bureaucracy as the Uk does. I think we all enjoy and
appreciate travel, trade and friendship across Europe which the initial
European integration brought, and hope and expect that will continue.
As
for the EU, Cameron has of course done what is the right thing for Cameron,
sod the country or the mainland Europeans! No doubt he and his ilk will
continue with their idiot government ideas as always. But just by chance this
is a rare occasion when his action coincides with Uk sentiment.
Maybe UK
sentiment is wrong, perhaps we are arrogant Little Englanders and bound to
fail? Maybe the French are not trying to nobble our financial sector out of
spite by adding quite unnecessary rules to their âtreatyâ plans which target
the UK? (without which the UK would have been happy to let the Euro countries
get on with whatever they wanted). Or perhaps we are the true
internationalists, sensibly wary of becoming further embrioled with the Little
Europeans and their internal power games?
Ironically Madame LePen might
make life difficult for English with property in France (moi!) yet in policy
terms she has far more in common with UK sentiment than Sarkozy, so I hope
not.
December 11, 2011 at 12:09
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Countries who receive more money from the EU than the put in decide to
agree with Markozy and implement a Financial Transaction Tax on their no
existent financial services industry. It costs them nothing and raises EU tax
grab on UK by £10-20 billion from FTT plus £50 million Per day EU club
fees.
We are not sitting at the top table. We are lying bend over it, trousers at
our ankles being financially shafted over the top table.
We can apply FTT to UK City trading and keep all the money.
This is a conserved move to transfer FS trading to Frankfurt & create
EU Stock exchange under Markozy Control. Itâs politics we are main rival
therefore we must be crushed & marginalized to ensure EU project remains
on track.
France has major banking difficulties. They have once again surrendered at
first sign of trouble.
Wait until they get the details & take it to the people. It will fail.
There must always be someone willing to stand up to undemocratic overlordship.
I am proud it was us. Even if Cam was dOing it for other reasons the result is
the same.
I will trade with EU not surrender sovereignty to europe
December 11, 2011 at 11:51
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Like you, I read far more than one newspaper, Anna. And have noticed a
distinct difference in reporting and opinion between the British and the
Continental papers. In fact Iâve read quite a lot, making fun of the united
British reaction
Having said that, I would wholeheartedly agree to the U.K. taking its
geographically isolated position: an island in the Atlantic.
A reading mark
between the European Union and the American Union, as I have in fact advocated
since some 30 years
December 11, 2011 at 12:04
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If the very best they can do is make fun of the wisest decision we have
made in decades, then we have nothing to worry about.
We succeeded as an independent island nation for 5,000 years. We can do
so for another 5,000 years.
You can have your 130,000 business strangling regulations back. You can
have your 3,500 new âcriminal offencesâ back. You can keep your euro, and
you can sort out your own debt. I for one am heart-sick of dipping into my
wallet to bail-out a currency that should never have been born.
Weâd like to be friends and trade and stuff, we just canât be arsed being
a vassal state of the Fourth Reich. The French seem to aspire to that.
CR.
December 11, 2011 at 11:37
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Itâs âDerâ not âDieâ Spiegel, Anna, and I have. Itâs a much more nuanced
account and it doesnât make the factual howlers that your post makes.
It also points out that Angela Merkel is very far from being home and dry
and that the markets are still nervously waiting for some substance before
endorsing Merkozy.
As to the Figaro, Iâd expect Carla Bruni to give a more balanced
assessment!
December 11, 2011 at 11:35
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Iâm not sure of the degree of satire or sarcasm in your writing on this
today⦠but I know this puts me in the minority of your readers when I say I
prefer to take this at face value and agree with every bloody word.
Yes the EU is badly run. But so is Britain, with or without the EU, and I
donât think running off in a huff and having a hissy fit will make things any
better.
December 11, 2011 at 11:32
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Dioclese â I donât think that the transaction tax was on the table in this
negotiation so that doesnât apply here.
I also agree that the Treaty of Troyes was a rather good treaty but the
English ended up being trounced.
For all his grandstanding, you have to like Sarkozyâs line to Cameron the
other day:
âVous avez perdu une bonne occasion de vous taireâ!
Itâs the best anti-British one-liner since Helmut Schmidt said of David
Owen (who had been disparaging about the Franco-German relationship â what
goes around comes around)
âWas der Owen, dieser vorlaute Schnösel, erklärt,
interessiert mich schon lange nicht mehr.â (What Owen, that self-important
whippersnapper, says hasnât interested me for a very long time).
December 11, 2011 at 11:30
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I was at a quizz lastnight in a small Bastide village not far from chez Ms.
Raccoon, the theme was films, the bar/retaurant owner is English and thee were
about 30 people attending in all, about 20 were French, it was a good evening
and the ambiance was very pleasant and relaxed with a lot of bantering at some
of the stupid questions asked about films made over 70 years ago in Britain,
France, Spain as well as plenty of U.S. titles. No one there gave a tuppeny
toss about what Cameron had done, simply because there are more important
things to worry about than the oversized and exponentianally related
undersized talent of the Politicians, Bureaucrats and Bankers w*nkfest going
on elsewhere.
December 11, 2011 at 11:17
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âThe UK is as isolated as somebody who refused to join the Titanic just
before it sailedâ â Terry Smith on learning that Cameron had vetoed the
European Treaty
December 11, 2011 at 11:11
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Out, is still a better alternative to having that French weasel and his
German mistress along with the Berlaymont commissars telling us what we can
and cannot do [with our money, armed forces, our energy needs, our borders,
our finances etc], next, democracy for Britain and repatriation to Spain for
Nick Clegg.
December 11, 2011 at 11:10
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Oh dear what a terrible load of spiteful rubbish you are spouting today.
Like you I live in France and have done so for nearly nine years first running
a business, hotel, now retired. I entered Europe a Europhile but very quickly
turned into a Euro sceptic. There is much to commend France their health
service is excellent or at least ten times better than the NHS and their
commune system has merit. However their regulations, tax, customer service and
bureaucracy is abominable and as France has such a strong and disproportionate
influence on EU institutions it is making the EU into itâs own image but only
the bad bits it is also using the EU for itâs own ends. That is a fate and
consequence I wish on nobody least of all my home nation the UK and would
heartedly recommend they quit the EU forthwith.
December 11, 2011 at
11:22
December 11, 2011 at 20:53
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As a resident of France for nearly 20 years, I regretfully endorse
Antisthenesâ views. Odd that eevry Frenchman (well, nearly) I have met I
have liked and/or respected; but somehow en bloc or as a political
phenomenon, quite the opposite.
December 12, 2011 at 08:36
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They feel the same way about us.
December
11, 2011 at 11:03
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The transaction tax would have crippled the UK economy. We couldnât afford
to agree to it.
Anyway we have been fighting the French for hundreds of years. so why
change now?
There is no way we could afford to go with this and at the end of the day
if you donât agree to something then you donât sign up for it. It takes
courage, but itâs the right thing to do.
Why on Earth would you agree to have your budget approved by unelected EU
bureaucrats so you can contribtue to a club you donât belong to? Weâre not i
the Euro and t baffles me why the other countries that are not in it either
have agreed to this. I think we would be better off adopting the Norweigan
model â trading partners but not in the EU. It seems to work well for
them.
December 11,
2011 at 10:55
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Itâs not impossible to imagine Britain effectviely âoutâ of the EU, and
Marine LePen as president. That would make life interesting for British
ex-pats living n France.
I fear we are living in interesting times. Perhaps one of my ancestors was
cursed by a Chinese.
December 11, 2011 at 10:51
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We in this mess because we joined the farce that is the EU. I wonder what
the UK would look like today had we retained control of our destiny. (Mind you
we would still have voted the Labour clowns into power anyway .. just means
they would have had more money to spunk up the wall !!)
December 11, 2011 at 10:48
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We are only good Europeans when we go along with them. That gives us
âinfluenceâ. Actually take an opposing position and we are isolated. A case of
heads they win and tails we lose.
Mind you I think Richard North over at EUReferendum has the right of it.
Veto? What treaty?
December 11, 2011 at 10:44
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I think he did the right thing. Whatâs the point of paying all that money
for a seat at the top table when no one takes any notice of what you say
anyway?
As for talking about EU-funded bypasses, one could argue that as a net
contributor to the EU, we could have paid for them ourselves and gotten them
cheaper without having to fund the EU bureaucracy/gravy train as well.
Freedom has a price, and compared to the dictatorial approach of the EU
elite, weâll probably be better off longer-term even if itâs bumpy to start
with. Especially if the EU still sinks under the weight of all its
harmonisation and compliance regulations.
December 11, 2011 at 10:40
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I agree with Mav.
The EU is like a party game in which the rules of play get ever more
complicated. It ceased to be any fun quite some time ago. Those making the
rules -the von Rumpoys, the Merkels, the Barrosos, and the Sarkozys-are just
miffed that someone said âHang on a minute, Iâd like to add one small
ruleâ.
âNo! Itâs our game, our rules!â.
We donât need to play with them. We have other friends to play with. As a
matter of fact, the EU need us more than they let on.
Itâs not worth playing with them anymore. £50m a day we send them. They
launder it, and send us £6m back in subsidies. Subsidies we wouldnât need if
they didnât have 10,000 regulations mixed in with our fishing and farming.
But you think we should be grateful for a couple of by-passes?
Non. Nein. No.
Iâm up for a bit of isolation. Only I call it independence.
Very few rats jump on to sinking ships. We did the right thing. What we
have to do now is step well away from the mess that is coming.
CR.
December 11, 2011 at 10:36
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This is so completely cock-eyed that I donât even plan to take it
apart.
Sorry
December 11, 2011 at 10:16
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methinks youâve been in France way too long my little froggie !!!
December 14, 2011 at 14:02
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Stolen from GF but worth posting here
âIn 1966 upon being told that President Charles DeGaulle had taken France
out of NATO and that all U.S. Troops must be evacuated off French soil
President Lyndon Johnson mentioned to Secretary of State Dean Rusk that he
should ask DeGaulle about the Americans buried in France. Dean implied in
his answer that that DeGaulle should not really be asked that in the meeting
at which point President Johnson then told Secretary of State Dean Rusk:
âAsk him about the cemeteries Dean!â
That made it into a Presidential Order so he had to ask President
DeGaulle.
So at end of the meeting Dean did ask DeGaulle if his order to remove all
U.S. troops from French soil also included the 60,000+ soldiers buried in
France from World War I and World War II.
DeGaulle, embarrassed, got up and left and never answered.â
{ 54 comments }