A new book examining the antagonistic relationship between presidents Jacques Chirac and George W. Bush claims the United States bugged the French leader's phone to find out his moves in opposition to the Iraq war. American surveillance listened to what happened "in the privacy of the Elysee palace according to several French sources in the military and intelligence fields," claims the book, titled Chirac contre Bush: L'Autre Guerre (Chirac against Bush: The Other War). Released Wednesday, the work by French newspaper journalists Henri Vernet and Thomas Cantaloube said that an unidentified former senior French military official found out about the bugging during a Washington lunch with a Bush administration official. "The relationship between your president and ours is irreparable on the personal level. You have to understand that President Bush knows exactly what President Chirac thinks of him," the US official was reported as saying abruptly. The book added that the French official, who knew the American very well, understood the message immediately: "That the 'services' were 'listening in on' the private presidential telephone calls" by Chirac. | I just wish we had more efficient bugging of Zarq and Zawahiri's phones... |
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