Colombani: Dear readers, you just don't get it, I am not anti-American

Following Jean-Marie Colombani's May 15 anti-American (tout à fait, de "l'anti-américanisme primaire" M. Colombani) editorial in Le Monde, I wrote him a **nice** letter, letting him know what I thought about his so-called editorial.

Believe it or not, apparently, I wasn't the only one complaining about his anti-American bias. He has written and sent a circular letter, a Word file titled "américains" (no capital letter) to answer.

Here is the translation.
Please keep any beverage away from your computer.

Paris,
May 26, 2004

Dear Madam,
Dear Sir,
Dear readers,

A lot of you have reacted towards my editorial "Tous non-Américains ?" published in Le Monde on May 15.

Some of you thought what I wrote was "primitive anti-Americanism". That wasn't my intention at all! What Le Monde has been constantly denouncing, and [the matter] upon which I insist in this article, is the voluntary confusion that George Bush has made between the invasion of Irak and the war on terror. After refusing the intervention of the UN, he's now looking desperately for its help. It was dangerous and it is detrimental to have intervened without the endorsement of the UN, as we never ceased, again, to advocate. Actually, I am fundamentally reproaching him for having contributed to part Europe from the United States in a time in History when solidarity in front of terrorism should prevail.

As Henri Martre writes in our columns (Le Monde, May 27), "it is evident that in a few decades, the United States will be less and less capable of bearing the burden of the governing of the world and it is in its upmost interest to encourage more subtle equilibriums in which Europe has to play its role".

Thank you for taking the time to write to us. Sincerely,

Jean-Marie Colombani

I won't insist on the fallacy of President Bush "refusing the intervention of the UN". Colombani's letter is so blatantly hypocritical that it becomes contemptuous of Le Monde's readers.

It isn't clear in his letter whether the "we" that "never ceased to advocate" an endorsement of the UN is representing France or Le Monde and its gang of pseudo-journalists.

Notice that Mr. Colombani isn't even apologizing for causing, at the very least, confusion. No. The several readers who complained simply didn't understand Mr. Colombani was just anti-Bush. Not anti-American.

Unfortunate, stupid readers of Le Monde. They are not in the same league as the newspaper and its journalists. Their view is probably a little too simplistic for Mr. Colombani's outbursts of hateful logorrhea.

Click 'continue reading' to read the original letter in French.

The original letter:

Paris,
Le 26 mai 2004

Madame et chère lectrice,
Monsieur et cher lecteur,

Vous avez été nombreuses et nombreux à réagir à mon éditorial « Tous non-Américains ?» paru dans Le Monde du 15 mai.

Certaines ou certains d’entre vous ont pensé que je faisais de « l’anti-américanisme primaire ». Tel (sic) n’était pas du tout mon intention ! Ce que Le Monde dénonce avec constance, et sur lequel j’insiste dans cet article, c’est l’amalgame que George Bush a fait entre l’invasion de l’Irak et la lutte contre le terrorisme. Après avoir refusé l’intervention de l’ONU, il cherche aujourd’hui désespérément son aide. Il était dangereux et il est dommageable d’être intervenu en Irak sans l’aval de l’ONU comme nous n’avons cessé là encore de le préconiser. Au fond, je lui reproche fondamentalement d’avoir contribué à éloigner l’Europe des Etats-Unis à un moment de l’Histoire où la solidarité face au terrorisme devrait prévaloir.

Comme l’écrit Henri Martre dans nos colonnes (Le Monde du 27 mai), « il est clair qu’à l’horizon de quelques dizaines d’années, les Etats-Unis seront de moins en moins capables de porter le fardeau de la gouvernance du monde et qu’ils ont intérêt à favoriser des équilibres plus subtils où l’Europe doit tenir sa place ».

En vous remerciant d’avoir pris la peine de nous écrire, je vous prie de croire, Madame et chère lectrice, Monsieur et cher lecteur, à l’assurance de mes sentiments les meilleurs.

Jean-Marie Colombani