In response to recent demonstrations supporting France’s
anti-war stance, a group of protesters assembled in front of the
French Consulate in Westwood Friday to voice their disapproval of
France’s position.
The crowd of approximately 40 demonstrators held signs attacking
French politicians and mocking French culture. One man held a large
caricature of a French waiter, while others displayed signs reading
“Get U.S. out of U.N.” and “Give war a
chance.”
A common sentiment expressed by members of the crowd was
resentment at what they called France’s disloyalty toward the
United States. Many protesters cited U.S. defense of France in both
World Wars as reason enough for France’s current
allegiance.
“France has depended on the people of the United States
twice to defend them from rogue governments. Now, when we need to
defend ourselves, they oppose us,” said Chad Morgan, an
organizer of the event and chairman of the California Young
Americans for Freedom in a press release Friday.
Morgan also announced his organization’s support of a
boycott against French products.
“If the French have no respect for what we have done for
them, then we have no respect for their products,” he
said.
Some members of the crowd poured bottles of French wine into the
street to publicize their boycott.
Among the French-owned companies that his group has blackballed
are Club Med, Sparkletts water, Michelin, Motel 6 and
Maybelline.
A visibly intoxicated protester supported the wine boycott,
bellowing “Drink Napa Valley” alongside the chants of
“Honk if you love freedom.”
Although anti-war activists have praised France’s attempt
to resolve security issues peacefully, protest participants pointed
to ulterior motives for France’s insistence on a peaceful
resolution.
According to Morgan, the French will suffer financially if
Saddam Hussein’s regime is dismantled.
“Iraq owes the French billions of dollars. When Hussein is
removed from power, this debt will become a personal debt of
Saddam,” he said.
However, French officials have publicly refuted this claim,
noting that France imports only 8 percent of Iraq’s oil,
compared with the United States’ 56 percent.
Top French officials refute claims that their country is acting
on economic motives, as the United States is a far more significant
economic partner for France than Iraq is.
Though the group of protesters consisted mainly of older
individuals, several UCLA students ““ including members of the
Bruin Republicans ““ were in attendance.
Ben Shapiro, a third-year political science student and a former
Daily Bruin Viewpoint columnist, justified war in Iraq as a
“morally clear objective.”
The possibility that war might proliferate anti-American
sentiment that could lead to an increased threat of terrorist
attacks was not widely acknowledged by demonstrators.
“The people that don’t like us simply don’t
like us. Our security should be in our own hands,” Shapiro
said.
Recent public opinion polls showing French opposition to war at
near 70 percent were also not considered valid justification of
French President Jacques Chirac’s opposition to war.
“I think some people (in France) support it and some
don’t. This is about our security,” said Mark
Seidenberg, a UCLA alumnus.
Chirac, though, sees implications of the U.S. push for war
beyond current security in the United States. The utilization of
U.S. force without U.N. support means the emergence of a dangerous
precedent, Chirac has said.
“Any community with only one dominant power is always a
dangerous one,” he said in a recent Time magazine
interview.
“That’s why I favor a multipolar world, in which
Europe obviously has its place,” Chirac said.