You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Europe
Chirac: U.N. should decide on wars
2004-11-19
French President Jacques Chirac continued a fence-mending but at times edgy state visit to Britain Friday reaffirming that the U.N. should decide on foreign interventions. "It's not for any given country to consider that a situation is open to stepping in and interfering," he told a question-and-answer session with students at Oxford University, according to the UK's Press Association. "It's up to the international community to do so and particularly the U.N., which alone has the authority to interfere," he said in remarks apparently aimed at the United States. The French president -- who backed a U.N. solution over Iraq -- added that if countries took such action of their own accord, it would "throw the door wide open to hosts of reason to wage wars under the guise of legitimate interference."

On Thursday, Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair tried to put differences over the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq behind them, telling a joint news conference they both wanted a peaceful and stable future for the country. CNN's European Editor Robin Oakley called it "glassy smiles and gloss over time." Oakley said that Chirac and Blair were careful not to inflame their differences over Iraq -- and both made plain their eagerness to do anything they can to revive the Middle East peace process. But later the French leader took on a harsher tone, warning Blair that his drive to spread democracy across the world alongside U.S. President George Bush could be confused with a new colonialism.
Only by the French and other foes of democracy
In a speech to the International Institute of Strategic Studies, PA reported, Chirac went on to set out his own distinctive view of international relations. Chirac stressed the importance of dialogue between Europe and "the world's major poles" -- China, India, Brazil, Russia and various trading blocs. "For although our memory is sometimes short, the peoples submitted to the West's domination in the past have not forgotten and are quick to see a resurgence of imperialism and colonialism in our actions."
You mean like the Ivory Coast, Jacques?
On Friday in Oxford, Chirac again pointed to stressed the strength of links between Britain and France. He admitted, PA reported, that there had been "one or two differences" on Iraq, but said the countries have "never worked in closer co-operation" than in the fight against terrorism. Chirac also focused on Europe's relationship with America. Speaking of the enduring nature of the transatlantic alliance, he said that the link is "strong and cannot be challenged by anybody." "North America and Europe... I think are predestined to work together because they share history, the same background and values."
Posted by:Steve

#27  Wo,
Heard the little known rumour about the King Frog taking delivery of his muossie grandchild recently. Any confirmation?"
Appears to be the case:
"Lebanon now has its own little Vichy regime at present, with Syria playing the role of Nazi Germany (and, behind Syria, the entire Arab League); those in power, including the "Christians" among them, consist of crooks and fixers, who have accomodated themselves to Syrian suzerainty. One example is Rafik Hariri(who originally accumulated his loot as a "businessman" in Saudi Arabia -- 'nuff said?); Hariri pays frequent and mysterious visits to Jacques Chirac; no one has yet found out what he brings in his briefcase to those tete-a-tetes; perhaps simply a nounours or a choo-choo train for Chirac's new Muslim grandchild, the product of his daughter (and closest political adviser) Claud's liaison with a Muslim Arab who happens to be the brother of France's reigning judoka, or judo champion (her first child was by aother judoka, this one a Frenchman -- if not faithful to one man, Claud has shown she can be faithful to one sport) -- but somehow one suspects more than Teddy bears and Lionel train-sets are involved."
Posted by: tipper   2004-11-19 10:08:18 PM  

#26  
Just like my U.N approved coup...oppps I mean ahh, oui, oy, peace ..ah plan, for the cocoa beans, ooppps , well you know, lé République de Côte d'Ivoire!
Posted by: Mark Espinola   2004-11-19 9:25:47 PM  

#25  According to SPACEDAILY and other Net sources, Dubya has formally reconstituted the Congressional Committee on the Present Danger, a Cold War joint/bipartisan committee whose primary function was the Cold War Communist threat to America, espec domestic. Dubya knows Radical Islam/Terror = Communism, so do Russia-China and the Clintons - you know, Bills uncompromising hatred of California=based BIG BOY restaurants. But-t-t, as the Clinton-led Democrats and Commies are now the GOOD GUYS, the Party of REASON, FAIRNESS, DEMOCRACY and JUSTICE, the Party of HINDSIGHT and "...IT MUST NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN"; of JOHN WAYNE, APPLE PIE, AND THE US MARINES, THEY'LL KILL AMERICA BY LOVING/SAVING AMERICA, espec FROM ITSELF.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2004-11-19 9:24:36 PM  

#24  
"Count them, 10, as in 10 numbered bank accounts with Saddam's money and other U.N. benefits."
Posted by: Mark Espinola   2004-11-19 9:13:35 PM  

#23  Meds. Ban. Meds. Ban. Sheesh. Decisions, decisions.
Posted by: .com   2004-11-19 9:11:56 PM  

#22  IOW, France is calling for the already NATIONALIST and CONFEDERATIST UNO, where sovereign nations act, or choose NOT to act, by consensus or State-specific decision; to become INTEGRATED AND CENTRALIST, where the central Government makes all the major and minor decisions for everybody. And since most member states are SOCIALIST in one form or another, Chirac is actually calling for the USA to become part of failed and failing International and Global Socialism, which for the Clintons is Communism by any other PC label or description.
See, Dubya, the GOP-Right, and the USA is dealing with an International Conspiracy here, where the strategy generally is to induce the hyper-power and over-sucessful USA to forcibly carry out the HISTORICALLY GLOBALIST AGENDA OF INTERNATIONAL LEFTISM-SOCIALISM-COMMUNISM-PROGRESSIVE while still weak but nuclearized RUSSIA-CHINA, i.e. COMMUNIST ASIA, MODERNIZE AND EXPAND, and while America itself simul incurs the status of a ROGUE that MUST INEVITABLY and "JUSTIFIABLY/VALIDLY" be destroyed like Radical Islam and world "rogue" states before. In Clintonian America, America is a covert SOCIALIST COUNTRY, WITH ALL AMERICANS, REGARDLESS OF BELIEFS, AND DEMLEFTIES ARE REPUBLICANS AND RIGHTIST FASCISTS WHOM ARE STILL FOR LEFT-BASED COMMUNISM AND LEFTSOCIALISM, OR CONTROLLED BY SAME, and are ANTI-AMERICANS WHOM AS A CLASS WANT TO BE GOVERNED BY ANYONE EXCEPT AMERICANS. Under CLINTONISM, "FASCISM" = DE-REGULATED/COMPETITIVE COMMUNISM-SOCIALISM, aka SOCIALISM-CENTRIC, LIMITED DE-REGULATORS/
DESTALINIZATION. The Failed Left wants America to wage war while also being warred against - they want America to adopt national and international and global SOCIALISM and become part of the global weak and minor, the world failed and failing, where the answers to every nation's problems is more and more Socialism, Regulation, and ever bigger Government.The Failed Left intends to win against America BY LOSING AGAINST AMERICA, at least for the time being - France= Iran = Syria = North Korea = Africa =...wilful, sacrificial, cannon fodder nations in AYMMETRIC BUT COLLUSORY/CONSPIRATORIAL supp of the Clintons, anti-American, and Global Communism/OWG agenda. * BLAME AMERICA = SAVING AMERICA = DESTROYING AMERICA = PRO-AMERICA - the only thing Failed Leftism has is the NUCLEAR BULLY STICK, and MILYUHNS and BILYUHNS of BODIES SOCIALISM CAN'T AFFORD TO CARE FOR ANYWAY, ERGO USE THEM UP ATTACKING AMERICA = DEFENDING AGAINST AMERICA, AND ONLY AMERICA!
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2004-11-19 9:09:07 PM  

#21  Heard the little known rumour about the King Frog taking delivery of his muossie grandchild recently. Any confirmation?
Posted by: Wo   2004-11-19 8:21:13 PM  

#20  So after Iraq, Iran or France?
Posted by: J   2004-11-19 4:21:32 PM  

#19  Chiraq has been nibbling on the Rat Cheese again. How come he gets so much press for his idiotic ramblings?

When you answer that question, please provide quotes and sources. Thank you.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2004-11-19 4:14:08 PM  

#18  Sure, Jacky - let the UN decide on wars. And let the UN send their troops to fight those wars.

Oh, wait.... The UN doesn't have any of its own troops, does it?

Too bad. Guess we'll have to continue doing it the old-fashioned way.

Asshole.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2004-11-19 3:26:28 PM  

#17  even if we accept the legitimacy of the U.N. (which I increasingly do NOT) why on earth is France still a permanent member of the Security Council? India and Japan...and even Germany have a much greater claim to permanent seats.

Posted by: Justrand   2004-11-19 1:26:44 PM  

#16  What makes this so hypocritical is that Chirac is taking a position based entirely on French practical interests and dressing it up in terms of "legitimacy", which I assume was handed down by God to the UN when we weren't looking. Would the UN be legitimate if France were replaced by India on the Security Council? Would the UN be legitimate if all members of the UN except France had decided that military intervention in Iraq was necessary, and that France for its part was required to supply a trained and equipped force of 20,000 men? If it ever came down to a push between French unilateral interests and the will of the UN, Chirac would simply ignore the UN and its "legitimacy."
Posted by: Matt   2004-11-19 12:59:16 PM  

#15  chirac is the defacto head mouthpiece for world socialism, he's becoming ever so aggressive in defence of his proxi the UN. these two represent all that is corrupt on this planet....any US politician who still believes that the UN is anything but an organ of communist subversion, needs to be invited to a US emmigration office where they'll be given a ticket to france or even cuba as a taxpayers last gift for ridding ourselves of them.
Posted by: Ebbeath Gleart2775   2004-11-19 11:57:02 AM  

#14  Jim K - couldn't have said it better.
lex...spot on. Chirac is becoming more and more like Paleo's - attempting to deflect from his own failure by blaming Americans and Jews. It seems to work well on Europeans. As Hitler proved a while back, the Euro's are happy to accept the idea of blaming "others', rather than demanding results from their leaders.

Chirac's owes his power to that ideal - expect him to get more and more shrill and outrageous as he has to work harder and harder to distract attention from the UN investigations.
Posted by: 2b   2004-11-19 11:56:41 AM  

#13  "It's not for any given country to consider that a situation is open to stepping in and interfering," he told a question-and-answer session with students at Oxford University, according to the UK's Press Association. "It's up to the international community to do so and particularly the U.N., which alone has the authority to interfere," he said in remarks apparently aimed at the United States.

Uhh, no. If this was how things were run, Afghanistan would still be in the hands of the Taliban, Saddam Hussein would still be dictator of Iraq, and German and Phrench companies would be profiting from their dealings with Hussein and his regime.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2004-11-19 11:55:56 AM  

#12  I'm ready to cut a deal with Chirac. He can KEEP the Oil for Food kickbacks and we'll STOP all investigations...if he will just SHUT THE FUCK UP!
Posted by: Justrand   2004-11-19 11:44:12 AM  

#11  Chirac's latest media flurry is partly designed to get us off the Oil for Fraud scent.

How much in kickbacks did Jacques the Thief pocket? How much from the Nov '02 sweetheart TotalFinaElf deal with Saddam to develop one-third of Iraq's entire reserves?
Posted by: lex   2004-11-19 11:35:54 AM  

#10  Jeezus. What a tool...
Posted by: mojo   2004-11-19 11:32:47 AM  

#9  "drive to spread democracy across the world alongside U.S. President George Bush could be confused with a new colonialism."

Surgeons and Serial Killers both cut people with knives...one with intent to help, the other to harm. The only way LIBERATION and COLONIZATION could get "confused" is if Chirac, et al, confuse people!

My Dad was at Omaha Beach on D-Day. I don't recall him describing the French people as being "confused" as to whether we were liberating them or colonizing them!!
Posted by: Justrand   2004-11-19 11:30:18 AM  

#8  Chirac: U.N. should decide on wars

If they did, all wars would go to the highest bidder.
Posted by: Capsu78   2004-11-19 11:26:30 AM  

#7  Maybe the weasel is looking for a French led U.N. war against the U.S. military. I could be wrong but I think there is already a world war against the U.S.

Hey Mike Sylwester, there is an opening at the French Command World Headquarters. Qualifications must include optimum debating/blathering (without facts) skill level to acheive, boring the enemy (U.S.) to death. You can easily fill this position.
Posted by: Poison Reverse   2004-11-19 11:12:50 AM  

#6  Truth to tell, it's a pretty good strategy for him, RKB.
Posted by: Shipman   2004-11-19 11:06:59 AM  

#5  Blair should agree with Chirac that the situation is such in the Ivory Coast that the UN should help stabilize the situation, and ensure that the people there live in an open democracy, un-exploited by colonialist powers or corrupt regimes who would steal their national assets.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2004-11-19 11:01:37 AM  

#4  "It's not for any given country to consider that a situation is open to stepping in and interfering,"

I guess that's why France waited for the U. N. before going in to the Ivory Coast in support of their Islamist allies.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2004-11-19 10:58:13 AM  

#3  [Chirac warned that the US-UK] drive to spread democracy across the world alongside U.S. President George Bush could be confused with a new colonialism.

Translation: "Colonialism's our job."
Posted by: lex   2004-11-19 10:54:37 AM  

#2  I'd llike to comment but this so hipocritical, self-serving and weasly that I have been reduced to incoherent sputtering.
Posted by: Jim K   2004-11-19 10:50:41 AM  

#1  Chirac is trying both to peel Britain away from the US and to undermine Blair with his own people (as a step towards the former goal).
Posted by: rkb   2004-11-19 10:49:18 AM  

00:00