Greetings from gay Paris my friends. And I am doing my absolute best to make that phrase a paradox! I’m here undercover parting with the Sarkozy crew since the man just won the French presidency yesterday…and like’em or not, these Frenchies know how to party! Dudes, they are the biggest wine producers on the planet, plus they do the Cognac thing, as well as Grand Marnier.  And partiers! You must try a snifter of the Grand if you are among the uninitiated! Orange liqueur heaven! But I digress…. let’s get back to the fry-makers…

France looks to new Sarkozy era

Sarkozy prepares battle plan

Sarkozy Wastes No Time After Win

Nicolas Sarkozy is the new French President-elect…and he is taking over control of one of the biggest and most troubled European nations by May 16^th. Man, the freakin honeymoon is over for this guy before the post-election party buzz even wears off! Nicolas is taking over control from President Jacques Chirac: the 74 year old political bedrock of France for the last dozen years, the face of France for over a decade. But this is no ordinary transfer of power. Oh no my friends! This is a big deal…and here’s why:

President Chirac is on the left side of the political spectrum: more of a socialist when it comes to individual rights and liberties and benefits, as well as being more liberal with social programs and individual choice. Jacques has also played spoiler to US international policies for a decade. In fact, he was openly hostile to the latest US war in Iraq, and became a whipping post for hawkish politicians to taunt—remember when the Congressional cafeteria changed the name of French fries to Freedom fries? Hahahaha what a fucking joke! But to be sure, many Americans still hate the French for their liberal ways and refusal to blindly support US tactics. Many Americans refuse to even drink French wine as part of their protest. Mmmmm…more for me to drink! But once again, I digress…

President-elect Sarkozy is the anti-Chirac. He is conservative…not rabidly conservative mind you, but certainly center-right. And as such he is more pro-money, pro-business, pro-small government, pro-police, pro-tax cut, and probably will be ‘pro-cracking down on civil liberties when shit hits the fan after his policies take effect’. There have already been two days of small-scale rioting simply because he was elected, so watch for some big-time rioting when he gets some of his pro-business laws passed (things like increasing the work week from 35 to 40 hours—a lot of French cream puffs are going to be pissed!) He will probably also reign in the civil liberties when/if ethnic and cultural clashes rear their head again, which is inevitable. But here is the biggest change between these administrations that I want you to know: Sarkozy will also be pro-US!

Watch for big changes coming on the international power politics stage my plaid friends. Cause it is coming! While Chirac used to be the spoiler, Sarkozy will be the supporter! If it makes it easier for you to understand, consider Sarkozy a more educated, smarter, more eloquent version of George W. Bush. The French Bush. Buisson or touffe? Hmmm…not sure of the usage.

So know this: big changes coming as France now more solidly supports the US/UK led War on Terror world wide. Europe in general is much more pro-US today than it was 5 years ago, so look for even greater cooperation of the EU with US on a host of issues, but certainly the military ones. As a side note, it was Chirac of France and Gerhard Schröder of Germany who were the twin towers of protest against the US war in Iraq. Both are more center-left guys on social policy and international relations who never saw eye to eye with the Bush administration in the US…and now BOTH are GONE! Schröder was replaced by the conservative Angela Merkel last year, and she is now joined by her conservative buddy Nicolas. Man, things are getting shaken up in Europe!

So Nicolas Sarkozy is the new face of France, hoping to make a huge break with the past politics of the great French way—he will be freeing up labor markets, changing the work week to gain competitiveness, and pushing for tougher measures on crime and immigration. And joining the War on Terror. And strengthening the Franco-German alliance with his conservative fraulien friend Angela Merkel. And probably visiting the White House real soon. And, and, and…

Damn! This guy has his dance card full already! France is a’changin’ for sure! We shall be keeping a close eye on Nicolas to see how things work out.

-PA

Watch out kids! Godzilla! Godzilla! Hello again my friends. The Plaid Avenger is back again in full force to force you to focus on the foreseeable future of forces in Japan…military force that is. Perhaps you already know that Japan does not have a military. No army, no navy, no air force or marines….at least that’s what is says on paper. Of course, our pacifist Pacific pals do have a bunch of dudes running around in uniforms, with guns, on planes, and in tanks. So what jives Japan? Take a look:

Abe facing battle over constitutional change
Japan marks 60th anniversary of postwar Constitution
Japan PM calls for defence review
Japan extends its military reach

Oh Abe, Abe, Abe, you are a busy bee! Not ‘Honest Abe’ Lincoln mind you, but Abe Shinzo the recently elected Japanese Prime Minister. And the ‘recently –elected’ descriptor is important for you to know, because it means that he is going to be a player for a while on the global stage. So know Abe, but more importantly for this blog, know that Abe wants some changes. Constitutional changes to be precise…

Our main man Abe is actually guiding Japan in a new direction regionally as well, as he is making a concerted effort to warm the often frigid relations between Japan and China. His predecessor Junichiro Koizumi, was a much more hawkish figure who regularly pissed off China and Korea by visiting the Yasukuni shrine—a war shrine honoring the Japanese dead from World War II, including soldiers and convicted war criminals who committed all manner of atrocities against the Koreans and the Chinese, among others. It appears that Abe is not going to be visiting the shrine in an effort to not piss off everyone else in the region, but we shall pick up on that subject in a different blog.

However, while Koizumi and Abe have different approaches to shrine visits, they are of one mind on the military: they both want it back. Want it back? What the hell does that mean Plaid Avenger? Where did they lose their military? Under a rock? In the Sea of Japan? Did Godzilla eat it? No, no, no…it’s nothing like that. It’s more like this:

During World War II, Japan was on the bad guy team. You know, the Nazis, Mussolini’s Italy, and the Japanese. What a bizarre grouping. Anyway, as you should know, the bad guys lost WWII, and for Japan this meant occupation by the United States—since it was the US who conducted the entire War in the Pacific component of the fighting, and after we dropped a mega-shit ton of bombs across the country, followed up by a couple of atomic ones. Lights out. Game over. US takes over.

Under direction of General Douglas MacArthur, the entire country was remodeled based on the ‘western’ example. The educational systems, banking systems, government systems, and for this discussion in particular: the constitution. The US basically wrote it, and told the Japanese leadership: “Okay, sign here on the dotted line.” So what? Why is this important for our discussion? Because in that constitution was placed a pacifist clause which prohibited Japan from ever having a military. And they still don’t. And that is what Abe wants to change.

“But wait Plaid Avenger, I’ve seen pictures of army dudes, and Japanese naval vessels, and Japanese guys helping the US in Iraq—but mostly I’ve seen all sorts of Japanese armaments as they battled Godzilla in all those movies…so what gives?” Excellent question! What you have seen/are seeing is what’s called the Japanese Self-Defense Force—a group of guys with guns and toys that look a hell of a lot like a military, except for one thing: they don’t leave the country. It’s supposed to be the equivalent of the National Guard in the US: there for emergencies and self-defense of the motherland if anyone were to ever invade.

However, this Self-Defense Force has been changing rapidly here lately. In 2004, a small contingent of this force was sent to help the US in Iraq. That was the first time since WWII that any Japanese soldier was sent abroad. Many people in Japan were outraged—how could such a move be justified as defending Japan? To be sure, it was mostly a move of political support for the US (I think only 19 Japanese guys actually went, but the US got to chalk up a whole other country to its list of supporters). After all, Japan has to keep kissing the US’ ass since Uncle Sam is the real protector of Japan, specifically against any current threat from North Korea, and any possible future threat from China.

And know this too: China, Korea, and many other Asian nations are not happy about Japan possibly re-arming, as they are still plenty pissed about WWII. See…this is why you have to know your damn history people!

So on one side you have a lot of Japanese folks and surrounding countries who want to keep Japan as a pacifist state. And on the other hand you have Abe and others in the leadership who now want to change the constitution to allow for a true defensive and offensive military, both for their security and to appease the US. The US really wants Japan to re-arm, and is pushing hard for this. Why? Because the US wants to use the military might of a re-armed Japan as a counter-balance to the growth of Chinese power in the region. It’s all such a delicious game of RISK, you know, the military game of dominance from Milton Bradley. Check and check-mate! Oh waiter, check please!

Oh wait, we have to stop and savor the historical irony here: the US is pushing hard for Japan to scrap part of its constitution that the US forced Japan to adopt 60 years ago. Ha! How hilarious!

Could you make this shit up if you tried?

We shall see how this plays out in the very near future. The changing of a constitutional clause in Japan will cause considerable consternation in the Pacific. Too true, too true. Watch out! Godzilla may rise again!