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Paris Is Washingtonâs âBest Allyâ
President Jacques Chirac's ruling party followed up on the French leader's effort to make amends with the United States, saying Wednesday that Paris was Washington's "best ally" in the fight against terrorism. They must be drinking the wine we aren't buying anymore. The comments came a day after Chirac sought to repair ties frayed by the war in Iraq by telephoning President Bush. It was the first time the two leaders had spoken in more than two months. "We continue to think, as paradoxical as it might sound, that we are the best allies of the Americans, because we are preoccupied by the same reality â terrorism," said Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, the spokesman of Chirac's Union for a Popular Movement, or UMP. "If we step into the spiral of hatred ... who will be the winner?" Donnedieu de Vabres said in an interview with France-2 television. We all know who the loser will be Chirac told Bush in a 20-minute phone conversation Tuesday that France was willing to adopt a "pragmatic approach" on postwar issues, according to Chirac's spokeswoman, Catherine Colonna. The French leader also welcomed the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime and the brevity of the war that ousted the Iraqi leader, Colonna said, adding that Chirac expressed condolences for American deaths in the conflict. The phone call was the clearest signal in recent days that the French leader wants to repair damage done to relations with Washington by their conflicting views of the Iraq war. "Bush answered the phone, so that's a win for us!" White House spokesman Ari Fleischer called the conversation "businesslike." "Caller ID was broken, otherwise we wouldn't have picked up" Posted by: Steve 2003-04-16 |
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