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| International |
| US signals action against France |
| 2003-04-23 |
| Le payback sucks, non? EFR United States Secretary of State Colin Powell has said France will suffer consequences for having opposed the US over the war with Iraq. Speaking on a television programme, Mr Powell said the US had to review its relationship with France following its promise to veto any United Nations Security Council resolution authorising war against Iraq. News of Mr Powell's comments came after the French ambassador to the United Nations, in an unexpected move, proposed the immediate suspension of UN sanctions against Iraq. The United States has been pressing for the sanctions to be lifted now that US-led forces have ousted Saddam Hussein's regime. "It's over and we have to take a look at the relationship," Mr Powell said of ties with France, according to a transcript of an interview on the Charlie Rose Show provided by the State Department. "We have to look at all aspects of our relationship with France in light of this." Asked if there were consequences for having opposed the US, Mr Powell replied "yes" but did not elaborate. Senior US officials are reported to have debated tough measures against France at a high-level meeting on Monday. One US official was quoted as saying: "They are trying to find ways to create alternative mechanisms for dealing with the French, or rather without them, and not just at Nato, but more broadly." US diplomats had earlier welcomed France's initiative on sanctions, described by the BBC's UN correspondent Greg Barrow as a significant shift in its position. The French ambassador, Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, said the sanctions issue was linked by past Security Council resolutions to a certification of Iraqi disarmament. "So meanwhile, we could suspend the sanctions and adjust the oil-for-food [programme] with an idea of its phasing out," he told reporters, following a briefing by UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix. Mr de la Sabliere spoke of the need for new arrangements so that UN inspectors could work alongside US forces to finish the job of certifying whether Iraq is free of banned weapons. France had earlier insisted that UN inspectors alone had the authority to hunt for weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Since the war the US has deployed its own teams to look for banned weapons, which it cited as the key reason for launching war, but so far none are reported to have been found. Like France, Russia also indicated its readiness to consider a gradual suspension of sanctions pending a final future decision that Iraq has relinquished all WMD. Sounds like the Weasels are beginning to sober up. Look forward the the hangover from hell, rodents! |
| Posted by:Anonymous |
| #16 Damn, Alaska, why didn't you just live trap him and then close the hole that let him get in? If I didn't have to crush the first coackroach that got through my household defense system yesterday, and you didn't write such good posts, you'd be on my list. |
| Posted by: becky 2003-04-24 11:52:21 |
| #15 I still think we should invoke the Monroe Doctrine and kick them out of the Western Hemisphere. The South Pacific too. I think that's stretching a point of law. That's three-quarters of the planet. Jeez, Ned, lose your parking space to a weasel, or what? It's not like they're after an independent Mustelistan Republic. If you could explain the purpose of sanctions to a mustelid, they'd have lifted 'em two weeks ago... what's the point after the rodents are gone? |
| Posted by: Mark IV 2003-04-23 22:43:00 |
| #14 I still think we should invoke the Monroe Doctrine and kick them out of the Western Hemisphere. The South Pacific too. |
| Posted by: Ned 2003-04-23 17:24:30 |
| #13 Mojo, I only pointed that out 'cos I'm (supposed) to be a biologist. Not a taxonomist mind you, but that's no excuse. It was early in the morning. I don't want to take up more of Fred's reserves on frivolity, but I can't help sharing some interesting info I noticed in the link I posted above - three varieties of weasel are the Siberian, Least and Yellow-bellied. Hmmm... Mike, mustelids tend to be a bad bunch, and all should be approached with caution, or avoided altogether. Amphibians, on the other hand: only avoid the two-legged variety. Paul - thanks for warning! It's corroborated by the link: "Mustelids have well-developed anal glands, which are particularly potent weapons..." |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-04-23 16:01:38 |
| #12 I had a weasel get into my house up north years ago. Couldn't get him out. Finally shot him with a .22 pistol under the washing machine. Hit him in the musk gland, stunk up the house. Messy. Which brings me to the metaphoric point: it is nasty business purging oneself of weasels.... |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-04-23 15:44:34 |
| #11 I knew I didn't like Mustelids, I just could never figure out why. Thanks for clearing that up for me. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2003-04-23 15:17:56 |
| #10 BD:" Before anyone else points it out, weasels ain't rodents. They're mustelids." Yeah. Like somebody was going to. ;) |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-04-23 14:20:47 |
| #9 If I had my way, I'd like to see a WWII vet accompany the U.S. diplomats everytime they go to France. Preferably someone who was at Normandy. I surely would love to see/hear a Sunday morning interview with someone in the White Hizouse saying that they like Australian wine. Maybe A U.S. Diplo, flanked by WWII vets could visit France on Bastille day, to "officially" inform them about the demotion to Charge D'Affairs. If none of the above happened, I would still be happy if we just aired some of their Ivory Coast laundry. Not, just going to the press and saying "France, Bad! Lookit!" But, maybe the Bush administration could start an Ivory Cost Peace Initiative. I think that would be a fine FU. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2003-04-23 10:32:11 |
| #8 Chiraq always goes for the "big" headlines and plays to the world press, and, he hopes, "world opinion" (whatever that is). I can see that GW has a definite course of action and goals, and that does NOT include France. No headlines, no foaming, just a few significant phrases dropped here and there. As was said in an earlier post some days ago, France will either be on the train, standing at the station, or under the train, but the train is leaving the station. GW's pattern of decision making, statements, and action play over and over again, but Chiraq just does not get it. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-04-23 10:26:51 |
| #7 I like it the way this is deveoping, even though I know it's going to change later as we move to the outer limits of official attention span. It's so nice to see that Powell sat down and asked himself, "Why do we have to please them?" Joe Biden and his buddies might call us "bullies" for it, but the obligation always seemed to me to go both ways, even if the practice didn't. Arab Street™, you're next. |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-04-23 10:11:40 |
| #6 The worst thing the United States can do to France is to ignore her completely. That means limit diplomatic exchange to a Charge d'affairs, rather than an ambassador (HUGE slap in the face), ignoring France's role in any international treaties or agreements, cutting off any aid to France, working through NATO channels that exclude the French, discourage trade (but do not IMPOSE SANCTIONS), and "suggest" alternate tourist visitations for US citizens. France has been "in our faces" trying to prove it's still relevant in the modern world. The one thing that will hurt the most is to be ignored. We should do the same thing to the United Nations, as well. It, too, is no longer relevant. It has proved itself to be merely the toy of those with immense egos and little substance. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-04-23 09:42:15 |
| #5 Michael: Yes. Timing is everything. I'm against suspending the sanctions, especially if there is a time limit and automatic re-imposition: It gives France too much power to re-impose them, chilling any potential long-term business contracts and relationships deemed necessary by the new Iraqi Government as essential to getting a good deal. No sane business will ink a contract with that kind of sword hanging over the other party... |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-04-23 08:54:55 |
| #4 The French are so corrupt that you should know better than to think they will have some sort of awakening! I think this explanation seems a bit more in character. http://quasipundit.blogspot.com/2003_04_20_quasipundit_archive.html#93096484 UNITED NATIONS, April 22 -- France today proposed the immediate suspension of all civilian U.N. trade sanctions against Iraq but insisted that the 13-year-old embargo could not be formally lifted until U.N. inspectors certified Iraq's disarmament...The French initiative, which caught U.S. officials by surprise, reflected mounting concern by Paris that it could be viewed as preventing Iraqis from reviving their economy as they emerge from more than a decade of sanctions. The proposal would achieve a key French objective by guaranteeing international control over Iraq's oil revenue until an internationally recognized Iraqi government is in power... France still wants to keep the sales of Iraqi oil, and the revenue from those sales, under "international [read: UN] control", while at the same time allowing foreign investment & export financing. Nevermind that Iraq might be better off selling her own oil, investing the proceeds in rebuilding herself and financing her own exports. |
| Posted by: becky 2003-04-23 08:52:03 |
| #3 I saw the show last night. It wasn't so much that Powell didn't specify what Franco-American relations would be in the future, as much as the immediacy of his "Yes" to Charlie's question. No hesitation. Jacques, Dominique, ecoutiez-vous? I think Charlie was a bit taken aback, decided no more elaboration was needed, and then moved onto another topic. Wow. Chirac/Da vile pin have really pissed him off. |
| Posted by: Michael 2003-04-23 07:58:12 |
| #2 Note that the Froggies are not suggesting the elimination of the sanctions - just to merely SUSPEND them... While we move on ahead, sans the UfuckingN, France, Germany, Belgium, Turkey, and the Russkies can admire themselves and their grand baggage in History's rear-view mirror. I piss in their general direction... |
| Posted by: PD 2003-04-23 06:29:42 |
| #1 Er, heh. Ahem. Before anyone else points it out, weasels ain't rodents. They're mustelids. That's all for today's Biology 101. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-04-23 03:32:56 |