U.S. & France Find Making Up Is Hard to Do

[kskiska]

Tuesday, September 23, 2003; Page A01

The Iraq war was coming and relations between France and the Bush administration were growing colder on Feb. 17, a federal holiday, when French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte made his way through the snow to Vice President Cheney's house.

Levitte is a close adviser to President Jacques Chirac, who was lobbying hard to prevent the U.N. Security Council from authorizing the United States to use force against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The Bush administration felt betrayed, but Levitte was unprepared for what Cheney asked him.

"Is France an ally or an adversary of the United States?" Cheney demanded to know, according to U.S. officials.

It was an extraordinary question to direct at a putative partner in the transatlantic alliance, a government that dispatched troops in support of U.S. efforts in Afghanistan and the Balkans, and a reliable participant in the anti-terrorism war. Levitte, who protested that France was indeed a partner, was stunned by Cheney's directness.

Relations between France and the United States, often tense, have rarely been less friendly than this year. Only months after the diplomatic blowup over the invasion of Iraq, which became so personal that French toast on menus on Capitol Hill and Air Force One was renamed freedom toast, the two countries are dueling again, this time over who should control Iraq's reconstruction.

(snip)

"There's something childish about it," Simon Serfaty, a specialist on France at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said of the administration's behavior. "This is not the way one does foreign policy when the issues are as serious as they are today."

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49642-2003Sep22.html

Loads of stuff in here that goes a long way toward demonstrating the pettiness of this administration.

[kskiska]

1. Kick

:kick:

[Paschall]

2. Ditto

:kick:

[kskiska]

3. Here's another

:kick:

[0007]

4. Excellent article

junior and his gang are truly pretty and greedy.

Right now I'm listening to the Brazillian President, Luiz Lula da Silva. What a difference between this man and our president.

[Padraig18]

5. An observation

I've been fortunate enough to have spent some time in both France and the UK, and the perceived realty as regards what 'they' think of 'us', as opposed to my personal observations on the subject, is amazing. In *general*, I found that the French genuinely like America AND Americans, while the British (at best) *tolerate* both.

Black is white, war is peace, etc... .

Call for Mr. Orwell on Line 2! :grr:

[cliss]

6. Some comments:

1) India has been very adamant about opposing the war. They have been asked repeatedly to supply troops to Iraq. They have just as persistently said 'no'. Why aren't they singled out as 'traitors'? Many, many other countries have been just as opposed to all this nuttines, but they seem to skate by unscathed. It does come down to bullying. The bully knows he cannot take on the entire schoolyard. But he can pick one, and proceed to wear him down. Then, that victim serves as an example to the rest.

2)Bush really doesn't want any help in Iraq. If they really wanted it, they would have made it happen. It appears that they are persisting in the illusion that Iraq is still theirs. They do not want to share. Give them another year, however, and we might see a different situation.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

7. Is Cheney so fucking stupid.....

....that he thinks he can bully other countries into supporting us?

Levitt should have cold cocked that weak hearted chickenhawk.

[goforit]

8. We need a new President to make up!!!!!!!

God help the whole world!