Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: Boycott not answer

Friday, April 11, 2003 | 5:50 a.m.

I HAVE DISLIKED the French government for as long as I have known what it was. Why has it taken so long for the rest of America to wake up?

While many of my friends have been boycotting Germany for the past number of decades, I have done my level best not to support anything the French government thinks is good. I have always believed those folks have no scruples, just a sense of the money, and that has given rise to some terrible policy decisions. In case you can't read the large words between these lines, street walkers seem to have higher moral standards than the French.

After my first trip as a teenager, it took 36 years for me to return to Paris, not because I didn't love what has to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but because I couldn't understand the disconnect between a country that appreciates such beauty and a people who encourage such ugliness to take place in their name. Whether it be their very public anti-Semitism or their devotion to money above all else -- even moral imperative -- there has been ample reason for Americans to dislike, even loathe, the French government and its policies.

I suppose this confession should convince everyone that I have come to my decision about boycotting France legitimately and with enough gravity of thought and purpose to make it acceptable to those who respectfully disagree with me. Therefore, my position on the call to boycott anything and everything French.

Pas moi!

President George W. Bush spoke in very plain terms many months ago when he announced to our friends, allies and enemies that they were either with us or against us. He left unsaid, of course, what the consequences would be for those who chose the wrong side of the line that divided us from the bad guys in this world.

As events unfolded at the United Nations before we decided to accept the help of the "willing" and change the regime in Iraq without the help of those unwilling to topple Saddam on either our timetable or without more reason to act, it became clear just who our friends were in this latest escapade.

If you judge friendship by the standard of who was in Kuwait with troops, tanks and planes ready to do battle with the Iraqi dictator once the president gave the attack order, it was clear that France was not among them. Neither was Germany. Neither was Russia. And China was nowhere to be found.

It is true that amongst our new and traditional allies in the war on terrorism and other bad actors -- some of whom were installed and supported by us or our newfound friends -- only Great Britain was stalwart enough to absorb the pain that standing by our side caused. The others, for whatever reasons -- good or bad -- took a duck. And now there is hell to pay for those who were not counted among the willing when their names were called.

I have met nary a person who is not taking out on the French what common sense and proper training dictates should be their fate. Boycotts are being called for on every radio talk show, during most television yell fests and from practically every Internet chat room that people of limited technological skills can locate.

Emotions are running very high on anything to do with the French and there are very few, if any, people who are willing -- at least publicly -- to try to understand the anti-Saddam and antiwar positions preached by our longtime ally and supported by the Germans, Chinese and Russians.

Hotels have canceled their orders for Evian water; the wealthier women among us refuse to visit the Chanel store, while those of more modest means steer clear of Smart and Final; the more sophisticated among us will drink not a drop of Sparkletts or drive a Nissan; and the Michelin Man could be history on all new American cars. All in an effort to punish the French for not stepping out front and center.

What is interesting to note is that this call to boycott is not a Bush administration initiative -- although who can blame him for being red hot at the French, and the Germans, and the Chinese, and the Russians, and the Belgians, and the Mexicans, and the Canadians ... In fact, President Bush has discouraged any such actions when asked. No, this one is home grown by the media hype types who are expressing on an emotional level what many Americans are feeling and who are milking on a financial level all they can by tapping into the hurt and betrayal we all feel toward our friends who failed to show.

I am doing my part. I am not drinking Evian water, mostly because I prefer another brand but also to satisfy this emotional need I have to strike back at Jacques Chirac for being such a jerk. As a Jew, I have good reason to dislike his government because it condones and fosters the kind of rabid anti-Semitism that makes haters out of ignorant people and clouds the substance of some very real and difficult challenges in the Middle East.

As an American, I am perplexed by his failure to act with us and, more importantly, by his active efforts to stop the United States in the United Nations. He not only brought disgrace to his people, but he helped create in this country a serious distrust for the U.N., which could result in a severe lack of support for future endeavors and, thus, make the world a more dangerous, not a safer, place.

But, like President Bush, I cannot support an all-out boycott because I believe that is not in the interests of the people of the United States.

First, if we don't want to be hypocrites, we should be boycotting every nation that refused to back our play. I don't know about you, but it seems like most of what I buy these days is made in China. Are we prepared to pull the economic rug out from under them? And Germany. Forget the Chrysler mini-van, that's a German-owned company. And the bank you do business with? Check the pedigree before you borrow. The magazines you read, the movies you watch, the food products you consume ... yep, they are all suspect.

I understand the emotional response, but what happens in six months or so when President Bush stands alongside President Chirac to announce something or other of importance that our two countries are embarking upon? And don't for a moment believe that won't happen. Will we end our personal boycotts, feeling somewhat foolish and used? Perhaps. Shouldn't we have enough confidence in our own president to believe that he will extract a more than sufficient price from the French before he allows them to play with us again?

If we do it the way the talk show clowns would have us do it, the people who will be hurt the most will not be the French. There are thousands upon thousands of American jobs tied to the importing and selling of foreign goods. They will be the first to go if Americans stop buying. And what about the jobs of other Americans that will be lost when the European countries counter our boycott with one of their own? More jobs lost. And at a time when we are already experiencing record unemployment numbers.

And one more thing. There is a great danger in Americans believing that the world begins and ends at our borders. It does not. And unless this country takes the lead in all manner of initiatives around the world -- that means being the world's policeman and doctor and psychologist and banker -- we will be recreating an environment for another 9-11.

America has a vital role to play in this world. It is the most important one. And that is the role of leader. To do it right we need to lead by example. We just showed the world an example of using brilliant military force to oust a murderous dictator. Perhaps the next one should be how to be a better friend than our neighbor.

Don't boycott him. Kill him with kindness.

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