"Europe Will Not Be Europe"

by Guy Millière • June 9, 2019 at 5:00 am

In the United Kingdom, the Brexit Party victory at 31.6% of the vote was a remarkable achievement that showed the persistent willingness of millions of Britons to leave the European Union. The "populist" positions -- the defense of national sovereignty and European civilization, refusal of uncontrolled immigration and diktats of Brussels technocrats -- have gained ground.
The parties that have ruled Europe for decades obtained weak results, but, with rare exceptions, did not collapse -- and will continue to dominate the European Union.
The Greens may gain more influence – along with its consequences. To anyone who read the Greens' programs, it is evident that they are essentially leftists with an environmental green mask. They support unrestricted immigration and multiculturalism. They are...resolutely hostile to any defense of Western civilization, to free enterprise and free markets. They are often in favor of zero growth. Most of them support an apocalyptic vision of climate change and say that the survival of humanity will be at stake around the corner if Europe does not take drastic measures to "save the planet". All of them are in favor of authoritarian decisions imposed from Brussels to all of Europe.
A European parliament placed under the influence of the Greens will almost certainly accelerate the slide towards more power given to the unelected members of the European Commission, and a phasing out of nuclear energy and fossil fuels. Policies favorable to still more immigration already are in preparation.

(Image source: iStock)

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Iran and the American Forbidden Fruit

by Amir Taheri • June 9, 2019 at 4:00 am

An Iran that is friendly with the US and is inspired by "American values" such as freedom of expression and the rule of law would not long tolerate the despotic and lawless system created by the ayatollah.
Here we have a delicious irony: Khomeinists and their Iranian apologists in the West love the American way of life, but only for themselves and their children. The trick is to deny the mass of Iranians, who have no enmity towards the US, a taste of that forbidden fruit.
Khomeinists must be anti-American to remain in power while they and their children benefit from the best that America offers, including the possibility of eventually settling in California. Their message to America is: I must appear to hate you in order to love you secretly!
The interesting thing here is that many US scholars and policymakers still pursue the dream of helping "moderates" secure unchallenged dominance in Tehran. This is why successive US administrations never pushed beyond the Khomeinist regime's "threshold of pain".

Khomeinists must be anti-American to remain in power while they and their children benefit from the best that America offers, including the possibility of eventually settling in California. Their message to America is: I must appear to hate you in order to love you secretly! Pictured: Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, proclaims "Death to America." (Image source: MEMRI video screenshot)

"Why do they hate us?" This is a question frequently put to me by Americans when discussing the rabid anti-Americanism professed by the Khomeinist ruling clique in the Islamic Republic.

The puzzlement implied in the question is understandable. For the United States is the only major power to have a decades-long history of close friendly ties with Iran. From the first decades of the 19th century, Iran found itself caught in an "Imperialist" pincer with Tsarist Russia and Great Britain providing its two arms. The Russians invaded Iran three times and snatched large chunks of Iranian territory in Caucasus and Central Asia. The British carved off large chunks of Iranian territory to add to their Indian Empire or to expand the newly created Afghan state they protected.

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