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Europe
Blair and Chirac set for showdown
2003-03-19
Tony Blair is set to meet French President Jacques Chirac for the first time since the French veto threat over a new UN resolution setting a deadline for Saddam Hussein to disarm. The prime minister's spokesman said Mr Blair will attend the European Union's summit later this week and will make his views clear to Mr Chirac if needs be.
Will Tony punch him in the head or kick him in his escargot?
EU leaders will discuss Iraq at a dinner in Brussels on Thursday evening and the spokesman said there was no point pretending there was not a fundamental disagreement between France and Britain. Paris is still reeling from Mr Blair's repeated claims that the French are to blame for the failure to secure a diplomatic solution to the Iraq crisis. He described the French stance as misguided and profoundly dangerous, stressing that it had ultimately benefited the Iraqi dictator.

De Villepin: "Shocked! Shocked, I tell you!" 'Shocked and saddened' by British attitude
"Oh, why would he say such a thing? Claudette, my pills! Quickly!"
"The tragedy is that had such a resolution been issued, he might just have complied," said Mr Blair. He insisted: "There is resentment of US predominance. There is fear of US unilateralism...I know all of this. But the way to deal with it is not rivalry but partnership." But those comments appear to have upset the French.
Good!
One diplomatic source in France said: "We fully understand the internal pressure which is being put on the British government,
How about the pressure we'd like to put on your pointy french head? Would you understand that?
but these comments are not worthy of a country which is a friend and a European partner. This presentation of the facts does not match the reality and does not fool anyone." Mr Villepin added: "The French authorities were shocked and saddened by the remarks made by members of the British government."
Posted by:Domingo

#7   >only a couple of nations send troops
To many cooks spoil the pot. Just ask the French when they unilaterally sent troops to the Ivory Coast.
Posted by: Domingo   2003-03-19 14:21:17  

#6  Just that in this great coalition only a couple of nations send troops into the fight and more than a handful prefer not to be named.
Posted by: Anonymous   2003-03-19 12:33:03  

#5  Would it help if they learned how to count and use plain english? I mean, "unilateral=1", while "multilateral" means more than one, and there are, at last count, 40 odd countries in the coalition.
Posted by: Ptah   2003-03-19 12:25:05  

#4  Must have outward one voice no matter what.

Tim Blair linked to this:

CHEESE-EATING SURRENDER ... VULTURES?

Prime Minister John Howard today led a scathing attack on France for its strong opposition to war on Iraq ... Federal parliamentary secretary Warren Entsch called the French international vultures.

Whoa! Entsch went on to describe France as a nation that "circles around and does nothing for itself, waiting for the opportunity to go and pick the benefits of other peoples' hard work." He evidently provoked a free-wheeling beret assault:

France was also condemned in the parliament by several MPs as treacherous, duplicitous, World War II Nazi-collaborators and makers of inferior wine whose talents were restricted to cooking.

Jacques Chirac might want to reconsider his visit.

Posted by: Anonymous   2003-03-19 12:17:00  

#3  The Chirac-Villepin bubble is about to burst.
Posted by: Anonymous   2003-03-19 11:40:41  

#2  Now 'Le Frog Suprême' is reduced to plagiarism!
Posted by: MommaBear   2003-03-19 11:09:02  

#1  Daschle- De Villepin in 2004... That's the ticket!
Posted by: Capsu78   2003-03-19 10:23:48  

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