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| Europe |
| French Official Wants ’Lies’ to Stop |
| 2003-05-16 |
| Hello Doctor, besides his continued 'dilutions of grandeur', Mr. Dominique de Villepin is showing bouts of paranoia. I think we need to increase his dosage PARIS - Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said in an interview aired Friday that France wants "lies and calumny" published in both the U.S. and British press to stop. To that end, Paris is taking an inventory of press accounts about France with plans to show they are untrue, de Villepin said in a France Inter radio interview taped Thursday night and aired Friday. De Villepin stepped forward to personally address what France claims is a campaign of disinformation against it, revealed to U.S. officials this week in a letter from France's ambassador to Washington. The letter by Ambassador Jean-David Levitte was sent to officials of the Bush administration and members of Congress. It was meant "to open up to them about the difficulties we are encountering and ... so that such lies and calumny stop," the minister said. However, de Villepin broadened the charge, saying the British media, too, had carried disinformation. "There is, in the American press and in the British press, a great number of articles, information that was without foundation, untruthful," the foreign minister said in the radio interview. |
| Posted by:Anonymous |
| #9 It is pretty tough to respond as Truejoe suggests if you actually read the stuff at the French embassy site. Interesting site. Why anyone would place so much faith in the "truth" coming out of any media is beyond my comprehension. Hopefully that great guardian of "truth", the NYT may have taught everyone a little caution in that regard. But what is truely unfortunate is that America's mood of intolerance and self-righteousness runs so deep that we cannot understand that the French might not agree with our foreign policy. Their self-interest is no doubt involved in their decisions, just as our Colorado governor's self-interest is evident in his snub of the French (but whether it was Ski Country USA or his own national political ambitions I'm not quite sure). |
| Posted by: Colorado Independent 2003-05-17 08:40:34 |
| #8 Truejoe: We aim to please here: http://www.info-france-usa.org/contactus.asp Say "f**k you" for me. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-05-16 19:32:41 |
| #7 I would love for someone to post an address or link to the french embassador's office here so we can send truth positive that the United States of America does not control either the liberal media or the american public. Villepin is trash and is looking for those elusive 15 seconds of fame. Too late. The liberation of Iraq is long gone. Move on you piece of french trash and take your garbage with you. We'l buy Portuguese, Spanish or Polish goods, thank you very much. |
| Posted by: Truejoe 2003-05-16 17:02:02 |
| #6 Ignore Ambassador Levitte's letter -- I wrote him a letter about three months ago and told him what the French needed to do, and they certainly ignored the advice in my letter. He probably received tens of thousands of similar letters. Toss his letter into the same landfill where he tossed ours. |
| Posted by: Tom 2003-05-16 13:23:51 |
| #5 ColoroadoConservative, You beat me to it. Le Monde and every other French newspaper does more America trashing per day than all of what the French have accused us of doing. In fact some of the editorial cartoons on the front page of Le Monde are insane and nauseating. They French should really take the lead when it comes to telling the truth if they're going to cry about others doing it. |
| Posted by: g wiz 2003-05-16 12:34:14 |
| #4 And how would de Villepinhead respond to an American call to censor the blatant half-truths and propaganda pouring forth from Le Figaro and Le Monde? |
| Posted by: ColoradoConservative 2003-05-16 11:30:15 |
| #3 Calumny? Main Entry: cal·um·ny Pronunciation: 'ka-l&m-nE also 'kal-y&m- Function: noun Inflected Form(s): plural -nies Etymology: Middle French & Latin; Middle French calomnie, from Latin calumnia, from calvi to deceive; perhaps akin to Old English hOlian to slander, Greek kElein to beguile Date: 15th century 1 : a misrepresentation intended to blacken another's reputation 2 : the act of uttering false charges or misrepresentations maliciously calculated to damage another's reputation - ca·lum·ni·ous /k&-'l&m-nE-&s/ adjective - ca·lum·ni·ous·ly adverb So, if it's true, it can't be calumny. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-05-16 08:58:02 |
| #2 So, the French really did send troops to fight beside ours in Iraq? |
| Posted by: Matt 2003-05-16 08:41:24 |
| #1 "Lies, all lies!" The FM is sounding more islamic all the time. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-05-16 08:33:37 |