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French begged Bush to take call
I think I like France better as an enemy.A clear-the-air telephone call between President Jacques Chirac and President George W Bush this week was secured only by repeated pleading from French diplomats, it emerged yesterday. The 20-minute call on Tuesday was the first time they had spoken for more than two months. Yeah, we'll give you call. When asked if the talk had been "positive", Ari Fleischer, Mr Bush's spokesman, said: "From the President's point of view, he would call it a business-like conversation." M Chirac's spokesman said he had been "pragmatic" about post-war Iraq. Do you think the US will call? We'd better stay home in case they call. Before the call could be arranged, Jean-David Levitte, the French ambassador to Washington, had to lobby Karl Rove, Mr Bush's chief political strategist, and Stephen Hadley, the deputy national security adviser, at the White House. Maybe America's phone's not working. Final American agreement to the call was secured only after discussions on Monday between Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, and Dominique de Villepin, the French foreign minister. This France? Yeah, it's the US. Please stop giggling, will you? This is going to be tough to say so we guess we should just come right out and say it. We like you a lot, you know that, and we've had some great times together. But...uh...things have changed, France. We've changed. And we just think it'd be best if we both started seeing other countries. The anger towards France is deeper and more pervasive. French firms have suffered a loss of income from cancelled American orders and officials argue that the successful French attempt to scupper a second United Nations resolution extended far beyond M Chirac. It's not you, it's us. We're just in a different place right now. Posted by: Christopher Johnson 2003-04-17 |
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