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| Europe |
| Bush and Chirac in first call since February |
| 2003-04-15 |
| President Jacques Chirac spoke to President Bush today for the first time since February. The 20-minute telephone call about the war in Iraq had been "positive", said a spokeswoman for M Chirac. The French President told Mr Bush of "France's willingness to act in a pragmatic way on issues relating to the post-war reconstruction of Iraq". She added: âFrance believes the international community must do all it can so that things work in its favour and involve the United Nations as soon as possible." âItsâ being France, or the International Community? The call came after Dominique de Villepin, France's Foreign Minister, moved to rebuild bridges with a Bush Administration infuriated by French opposition to the war in Iraq. M de Villepin said that he had a "pragmatic" telephone conversation with Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, over the Middle East. Officials have suggested that France would back away from threats to veto any United Nations resolutions that failed to give the UN a dominant role in Iraq. "Our aim is not to make intransigent protests all the time, "It's useless to go back over what has divided us," M de Villepin said after a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels last night. "We need an international community that is united." Commentators are beginning to point out that the so-called "peace camp", headed by France, Germany and Russia, ended in failure and now has less influence over global affairs than ever. âWeâre relevant! We really are! I swear! Please let us be relevant? "If Washington tries to strong-arm Syria, what can France do to help?" said Le Figaro today. "Why would France be more efficient in the Syrian crisis than it was in the Iraqi crisis? These questions point to the limits of French Many analysts say that if France wants to play a role in world affairs, it has no option but to start co-operating with the US. But M Chirac could face a backlash from the French public for warming to the White House. Many French people, including well-educated, middle-class white-collar workers, view the Bush Administration with deep distrust, and it is not uncommon to hear them explain that George Bush is more dangerous than Saddam Hussein. Sigh⊠Yes, yes, regularly he tortures us. He makes us put up with listening to blather from CHIRAC. The French view was summed up by a front-page cartoon in Le Monde today, which showed American intellectuals working in a library. In the place of pens, they held missiles. Hmm. Interesting analogy. If one were to carry it over to the French, what would they be holdingâŠ? Suggestions? |
| Posted by:Tadderly |
| #22 Do I care what the French think? No Do I care about French feelings? No Is it helpfull to have France involved on the international stage? No âFrance believes the international community must do all it can so that things work in its favour and involve the United Nations as soon as possible." â I read that as France saying the internationl community should do everything it can to further French interests. Screw the French? Hey guys ease up on TGA.While Germany(Re:Schroder)was obstructionist at the U.N., (1)Germany's constitution expressly forbids forign military involvment. (2)Germany did not obstruct use of airbases for tactical and logistical support.(You know like the venal Turks) (3)German police activlly protect our bases and personel. (4)Where do our wounded go Riemstien. That gasbag,Schroder,will be gone soon enough. |
| Posted by: raptor 2003-04-16 10:07:13 |
| #21 Always wrong? Then we must have been wrong too the last 50 years, being US allies? We were wrong about Schroeder, granted. But in democracies errors can be corrected every four years. And they will be. Maybe even earlier. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-04-15 23:59:24 |
| #20 Brian, Speaking from flyover country, our dislike of the French (I had to wash my hands after typing that word) has moved well beyond academic to the visceral. We have all the concern for them as three day old road kill. |
| Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2003-04-15 22:00:27 |
| #19 Anonymous, Schroeder is a mediocre politician, he is anything but a (emerging) dictator. He will be voted out of office. Germany is one of the most democratic countries in the world. We have learned from history. Have you? |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-04-15 21:08:32 |
| #18 True German Ally; that list ya made is of the deposed why not get current. Start with the emerging dictators and surregate un lackeys' Schroedr fischer chirac villapin Castro No Name Putin lackey kofi of Gahnarhea oh well you get the idea....your walk down memory lane is to divert attention from the present.Duly noted that you omitted der fuerur and his band of timely demons, masquerading as governments. Germany didnt elect to go Socialist, you'll find this out by August. J Fisher that thug you have representing subversion in the un, he'll be unemployed very soon... With Germanys record of supporting Just causes as dictators, it's obvious you have learned nothing, and that you are failing once again to overcome this character flaw. Go Ahead and cast your collective lot on the wrong side of Right...be stupid, its OK! |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-04-15 20:42:41 |
| #17 Then I hope it is a lasting policy change. Let's hope that DDD ("Dictator Dying Disease") is extremely contagious. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-04-15 20:39:13 |
| #16 To TGA: all during the Cold War, not lately. Have some perspective: it was a big standoff, many methods were used in a pretty desperate situation, against the same methods from the other side. Now it seems to be different: one does not need to put up with dictators except for some questionable political ends. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-04-15 19:53:41 |
| #15 TGA -- I think what was meant in the "fake news" was not just having diplomatic/business/etc relationships with ruthless dictators, but actually having them as rulers. Every country on this planet has had some dealings with many, if not all of the tyrants on your list. No country is lily-white in that regard, and I don't think anyone here would say that the US is. The thing that is so incomprehensible to most is that the French seem to really LIKE not only having them as sometime allies, but being under their domination. |
| Posted by: Baba Yaga 2003-04-15 19:51:11 |
| #14 Bush: "Hello! Is this the President's residence. I'd like to cancel my order of Frence Wine" |
| Posted by: rg117 2003-04-15 18:09:06 |
| #13 I lament that so many Americans have just an academic hatred of France. Screwing us over in NATO under de Gaulle, trying to take control of Europe 3 times, selling arms to Iraq and their brilliant handling of Vietnam. Those are all purely academic complaints. Our distaste for their regime should be much deeper and more vigorous. |
| Posted by: Brian 2003-04-15 18:04:46 |
| #12 "History of pathetic compliance with dictators" Batista (Cuba) Somoza (Nicaragua) Noriega (Panama, now Miami jail) Pinochet (Chile) Trujillo (Dominican Republic) Rios Montt (Guatemala) Reza Pahlavi (Shah of Iran) Saddam (Itaq, until 1990) Stroessner (Paraguay) Banzer (Bolivia) Obiang (Equatorial Guinea) In all friendship, isn't the pot calling the kettle black here? |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-04-15 17:56:18 |
| #11 Later, President Bush called back, asked if they had Prince Albert in a can, told them to "let him out before he suffocates" and then hung up after laughing maniacally... |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-04-15 17:38:59 |
| #10 Re: The Phone Call (TM). France is making this a BFD. They will put more of a positive spin on this than a SNECMA gas turbine. "I called and everything is on the mend." Bush has always been a gentleman, and has taken heaps of abuse from the French and other Weasels, the press, and all the ships at sea. But it will not change the fact of the utter duplicity and backstabbing of Chiraq and Co. Bush will not forget this, and his actions will speak volumes. Based upon previous history, I believe that this will be so with TFC. France will be shut out, no matter how the press digests and ruminates this story. Watch the hands and not the mouth. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-04-15 17:02:05 |
| #9 They would of course be holding Saddam's dick. |
| Posted by: Wills 2003-04-15 16:50:12 |
| #8 What strikes me is that the Frenchies get their version of things out first. Our side of the event waits on Ari's performances. "...he had a "pragmatic" telephone conversation with Colin Powell." "The 20-minute telephone call about the war in Iraq had been "positive", said a spokeswoman for M Chirac." Y'know, when there are translators involved, a 20 minute conversation is probably less than 5 sentences each. Yet it is reported as if something significant occurred. Ari didn't use the word "positive" - but he didn't saw we had declared war, either - so NOT significant. I think g wiz is right: even the appearance of dealing with France or showing anything but disdain and dismissal is a colossal mistake... even AFTER they publicly choke down a few shit sandwiches. Even then, I'd stiff 'em. |
| Posted by: PD 2003-04-15 16:11:51 |
| #7 You can watch Bush's approval rating go through the floor if he allows France to act like our friends again. If it's 70% now it'll be 7% a month from now. |
| Posted by: g wiz 2003-04-15 15:43:08 |
| #6 Isn't it comical how the Euro trash have to refer to the idiots that oppose Bush as 'Well-Educated.' The inference is that only the dimwits support the U.S. (Bush). These guys are as bad as the Arabs when it comes to reporting. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2003-04-15 15:34:50 |
| #5 John: YES! Thank you for correcting my negligence. I didn't mean to bogey the credit - thanks for the link and cite. |
| Posted by: Tadderly 2003-04-15 13:57:27 |
| #4 Tadderly: LOL! |
| Posted by: KP 2003-04-15 13:57:22 |
| #3 Er, shouldn't Scott Ott at ScrappleFace be cited for his original work on the Axis of Weasels? http://www.scrappleface.com/MT/archives/000608.html |
| Posted by: John Phares 2003-04-15 13:56:13 |
| #2 Hey! - Your fake access is better than my fake access! I might have to start telling bigger lies in order to maintain what little access I have now. |
| Posted by: FormerLiberal 2003-04-15 13:32:42 |
| #1 Sorry â I had to take a page out of FormerLiberalâs book - In other fake news today: U.S. Secretary Defense Donald Rumsfeld apologized today for referring to France and Germany as an "Axis of Weasels." "I'm sorry about that Axis of Weasels remark," said Mr. Rumsfeld. "I didn't mean to dredge up the history France and Germany share of pathetic compliance with ruthless dictators. " The Defense Secretary said he was "way out of bounds" with the comments. "I should have known better than to remind people that these two nations--which live in freedom Thanks only to the righteous might of America, Britain and their allies--that these nations are morally and politically bankrupt, and have failed to learn the lessons of history," he said. "It really was an inappropriate thing to say--you know, the Axis of Weasels thing. I really should not have called them the Axis of Weasels. I think it's the 'Weasels' part that was most offensive ... you know, when I said that France and Germany form an Axis of Weasels. Of course, I'm so sorry." The Defense Secretary continued, "I want it to be known that no other man holds the weasel in as high a regard as I do, and I'll be the first to point out the crucial role this noble creature plays in our ecosystem. I went way over the line comparing the weasel to a bunch of rude, unwashed, leftist Euroweenie surrender monkeys who change their underwear once a month whether they need to or not. And I just did it again, didn't I? I just insulted the monkeys. I'm quitting while I'm ahead." |
| Posted by: Tadderly 2003-04-15 13:30:03 |