A New York Times article shows that French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac lives in a fantasy land, as usual:
“To a certain extent Saddam Hussein’s departure was a positive thing,” Mr. Chirac said in an interview broadcast on the BBC Newsnight television program. “But it also provoked reactions, such as the mobilization in a number of countries of men and women of Islam, which has made the world more dangerous.”
Ensuring that his country’s relations with the United States and Britain will remain cool, he said, “There is no doubt” that terrorism around the world has increased because of the war in Iraq.
Jacques, do you mean “around the world” or around Iraq? I can’t remember a successful terrorist attack in the U.S. since, oh, Sept. 11, 2001. And I’m not really keeping count, but sure, the Iraqi roads are rigged with a few more explosive devices, but have there really been more attacks in the rest of the world than before? Seems that if we avoid those vacation hotspots of Baghdad, Falluja and Mosul, folks will be O.K.
And Chirac also revealed his principled basis for foreign policy:
Recalling a French-British meeting on the eve of the Iraq war, Mr. Chirac told the British reporters that he had counseled Mr. Blair to get something from Washington in return for Britain’s support for the war.
“Well, Britain gave its support but I did not see much in return,” the French president was quoted as saying in The Times of London. “I am not sure it is in the nature of our American friends at the moment to return favors systematically.”
Oh, you mean like oil-for-food?
