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| Europe |
| France Says It Is Target of Untruths - U.S. Official Calls Claim ’Nonsense’ |
| 2003-05-15 |
| Someone give the French baby a bottle so it will quit crying. The French government believes it is the victim of an "organized campaign of disinformation" from within the Bush administration, designed to discredit it with allegations of complicity with the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein. In a letter prepared for delivery today to administration officials and members of Congress, France details what it says are false news stories, with anonymous administration officials as sources, that appeared in the U.S. media over the past nine months. A two-page list attached to the letter includes reports of alleged French weapons sales to Iraq and culminates in a report last week that French officials in Syria issued French passports to escaping Iraqis being sought by the U.S. military... The unprecedented letter, signed by French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte, is an indication of the depth and bitterness of the breach between the two historic allies and NATO partners over the issue of Iraq. Although French officials maintain they have tried to overcome the differences and renew the partnership, they say the administration has expressed little interest in rapprochement. U.S. officials say they are still angry over France's leading role in opposing U.N. authorization of the war, and attempts to prevent NATO from giving Iraq-related security assistance to Turkey, and are contemplating the future U.S. relationship with France. But a senior administration official last night dismissed the French charge of organized disinformation as "utter nonsense." (con't see link) |
| Posted by:Anonymous |
| #16 damn this australian wine is good. |
| Posted by: Timmy the Wonder Dog 2003-05-15 16:15:07 |
| #15 Once upon a time there lived an orphaned bunny and an orphaned snake. By a surprising coincidence, both had been blind since birth. One day the blind bunny was hopping through the forest and happened to trip over the blind snake. This, of course, knocked the snake about quite a bit. "Oh, my," said the bunny, "I'm terribly sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I've been blind since birth, so, I can't see where I'm going. In fact, I'm also an orphan, and don't even know what I am." "It's quite OK," replied the snake. "Actually, my story is much the same as yours. I, too, have been blind since birth, and also never knew my mother. Tell you what, maybe I could slither all over you, and figure out what you are, so at least you'll have that going for you." "Oh, that would be wonderful" replied the bunny. So the snake slithered all over the bunny, and said, "Well, you're covered with soft fur; you have really long ears; your nose twitches; and you have a soft cottony tail. I'd say that you must be a bunny rabbit." "Oh, thank you! Thank you," cried the bunny, in obvious excitement. The bunny suggested to the snake, "Maybe I could feel you all over with my paw, and help you the same way that you've helped me." "That'd be wonderful," the snake replied. So the bunny feels the snake all over, and said, "Well, you're smooth and slippery, you have a forked tongue, no backbone and no balls. I'd say you must be French". |
| Posted by: ColoradoConservative 2003-05-15 15:56:25 |
| #14 Snellenr: Great line! Can I use it? |
| Posted by: ColoradoConservative 2003-05-15 15:50:38 |
| #13 seems the rice policy of punishing the french, ignoring the germans and forgiving the russians is having the desired impact. i just hope we keep sticking to the french. the french call us warmongers - well i bet there parents and grandparents would have a diff view. france should be gratefull thier young people do not speak german! FOR ALL THOSE WHO HAVE PLANS TO VACATION IN FRANCE - PLEASE BUY ONE-WAY TICKETS! |
| Posted by: Dan 2003-05-15 15:33:10 |
| #12 Sorry, France, but we won't be ready for the rapprochement until we're finished with the reproachment. |
| Posted by: snellenr 2003-05-15 14:38:54 |
| #11 Old Patriot: It's time to pick up the banner of environmentalism and restore the wetlands at Le Marais! |
| Posted by: Dishman 2003-05-15 13:19:08 |
| #10 Hey just because the French call us war-mongers, baby-killers, and despots doesn't mean we can't be friends. Just as long as we can call them frog eating-surrender-monkeys! Embrose mon Derier, si vous plat! Yes I know it's spelled wrong and bastardises the frog language (SO WHAT). Hey Chirac, how does it feel to be useless and irrelevant? |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2003-05-15 13:00:07 |
| #9 I did not have sex. With that woman. Miss Luwinski? |
| Posted by: Lucky 2003-05-15 10:33:21 |
| #8 There's nothing like some French-bashing to get my day started off on the right foot! (Would that be pied a gauche or pied a droite?) |
| Posted by: ColoradoConservative 2003-05-15 10:31:09 |
| #7 Having spent the first 18 years of my life living and playing in the swamps of Louisiana, I can truthfully say I'd prefer a swamp any day to France. The three times my family and I went to France were the three worst trips we took during our ten year stay in Europe. Calling the French "frogs" is an insult to frogs. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-05-15 10:23:02 |
| #6 Frogs and swamps aren't nearly as nasty as French politicians. |
| Posted by: Tom 2003-05-15 10:12:39 |
| #5 Gallic Rule # 1: Never trust a frog - a slimy creature who exists in the ooze of the swamp. |
| Posted by: ColoradoConservative 2003-05-15 10:02:03 |
| #4 They deny the visa story but did they deny the stories about weapons and materiel trade, especially the one about missile parts through China and Syria reported by William Safire in the New York Times? Regardless, this will certainly clear their name. The stories about their collaboration were hard to belief anyway - so out of character (choke, cough, splutter). |
| Posted by: Tokyo Taro 2003-05-15 08:27:42 |
| #3 ‘Although French officials maintain they have tried to overcome the differences and renew the partnership, they say the administration has expressed little interest in rapprochement.’ Outstanding! Yet another reason to re-elect Bush in 2004! BTW, for the ambassador's benefit, how do you say 'clueless' in French? |
| Posted by: Ned 2003-05-15 08:26:30 |
| #2 Nonsense, my campaign of disinformation is deliberately disorganized. I call it DDD for short. I've always had a thing for triple D's. I'd hate to be an ambassador. You have to go out there and say things with a staight face that put any normal person into fits of hysterical laughter. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-05-15 07:53:02 |
| #1 Frogs and swamps aren't nearly as nasty as French politicians. |
| Posted by: Tom 5/15/2003 10:12:39 AM |