Lew, in this interview, I see Root appeals to base conservatism by giving a caveat, while discussing energy policy, that he "usually hate[s] France." This reverberates with the Republican bias of 2003 against France. What is with the Francophobia, anyway? Sure, the nation has its problems. Lord knows we Americans have ours. But what about honest friendship?
Funny that Walter Jones, who famously pushed the idea of "Freedom Fries" back when anti-France sentiment was at its peak, has become one of the leading Republican voices against the war. Unlike some candidates, he has admitted he made a mistake, says he shouldn't have made it, and also has supported a timetable for withdrawal. (He is no non-interventionist, no libertarian on the war issue, obviously, or else he would have not voted to conquer Iraq in the first place.)
Of course France, and Ron Paul (the real antiwar Republican), were right about the Iraq war from the beginning. If only Congress had listened to America's longtime ally and longtime friend, France, as well as to Ron Paul, this unspeakable human atrocity – one of the greatest disasters in our times – would never have happened.
