Reply #9: Not sure where the analogy is

[theboss]

I don't see the war in Iraq and Suez Canal crisis as analogous except by the fact that it shows Western interference in the Middle East. The main problem is that the Suez Canal crisis exposed France and Britain as the second-tier powers that they had become. Both countries still harbored some imperial aspirations, but the crisis revealed that without backing from the US or Soviets, their influence barely extended beyond Europe.

No matter what happens in Iraq, the US's position as a superpower is not going to be in jeopardy.

But like I said, the one parallel is the simple contination of the belief that the Middle East does not really have independent states. It has leaders that the West sees as pawns on a chessboard.

Make no mistake. French resistance to the war is not due to the French suddenly discovering international law or taking an interest in human rights. It's largely due to the French investment in Iraq and an attempt to still show themselves as a world power.