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April 09, 2003
Plus ça change
So Jacques Chirac is going for broke. Anyone who thought that the French president would swiftly seek a rapprochement with les Anglo Saxons following the success of the allied military campaign in Iraq will have been gravely disappointed by his remarks yesterday. Just hours after George W. Bush and Tony Blair had stated at their summit in Belfast that the United Nations had a "vital role" to play in the future of Iraq - a nicely vague concept - Mr Chirac opined that it was up to the UN "alone" to conduct the political, economic and humanitarian reconstruction of that benighted land. It was, he claimed, the sole repository of legitimacy for such a venture. Continue reading 'Plus ça change' What does Mr Chirac hope to achieve by this intervention? He presumably cannot be deluded enough to think that he will much impress America, where the UN's prestige ranks only a little higher than his own after France's failed attempt to stop America and Britain from liberating Iraq. But it does other things for him. It was a wonderful "spoiler" operation on the Anglo-American summit worthy of this master of short-term tactical wheezes. It may also prove effective as a stratagem for further squeezing Mr Blair, many of whose Cabinet and party colleagues seem to share the French hostility to Mr Bush (though their love of supra-national bureaucracies is, admittedly, less opportunistic than that of the resident of the Elysée). And by adopting the pose of "my UN, right or wrong", Mr Chirac has found a suitable springboard for the emerging Franco-German-Russian triple alliance to counterbalance American hyper-power. Mr Chirac is therefore playing less for the future of Iraq than he is for the future of what Mikhail Gorbachev and other late Soviet era spokesmen used to call the "Common European Home". His observations on the matter should be treated with contempt, not least since France regularly intervenes in civil wars, such as that currently under way in the Ivory Coast, without any UN authority. But the main reason why his vision of an exclusive role for the UN should be rejected is less because of his own double standards than because the UN has played no part in the liberation of Iraq. To the victor, the spoils. In this case, that expression means the Iraqi people as much as, if not more than, the British and the Americans. Any decisions on the future role of the UN in reconstructing the country must await the convening of a representative assembly of Iraqis. What gives Mr Chirac the right to pre-empt them? We say this because there is much anecdotal evidence to suggest that following its prolonged dalliance with the nearly vanquished Baathist regime, the UN does not enjoy the same talismanic status among ordinary Iraqis as it does in the salons of Paris and London. The ludicrously high rates of pay for UN officials and workers have damaged the country by creating an internal "brain drain": why work as a doctor when you can earn four times as much as a lorry driver? Above all, if the UN is accorded pride of place in post-war reconstruction, that perforce means that the 22 Arab League states - all of which are autocracies of varying degrees of brutality - will be able endlessly to meddle in its affairs. The creation of a more pluralistic polity in Iraq is going to be very subversive of those regimes and they will seek to distort its democratic development at birth. By virtue of burning his bridges with America, Mr Chirac may not be able to spare them such challenges. By virtue of his closeness to Mr Bush, Mr Blair is probably a better bet for the teetering old order in the Middle East. Posted By Gabriel Syme (Samizdata) at April 9, 2003 06:12 AM | TrackBackComments
Nothing he can say today can spoil my day... I'll come back tomorrow and read what the moron said. Posted by: ally at April 9, 2003 06:17 AMHe seems to inhabit the same fantasy world as the artist formerly known as Baghdad Bob. Posted by: stephen at April 9, 2003 06:18 AMAh, Chirac thinks that because we permitted France a role in the U.N., and in the occupation of Germany after WWII, that was wholly unwarranted by events, that he is a world leader of moral influence and political stature. Sorry, Jacques, but the downfall of Napoleon I was the end of French influence in world affairs. France is just another blood-and-soil clan on the edge of things. Posted by: John "Akatsukami" Braue at April 9, 2003 06:20 AMChirac has to try to brass this one out. His bridges are burnt. Surely this just goes to show that the UN needs shacking up if france has a permenant seet on the security council. How did they get it the first place because they usualy provide the venue for any major wars. I guess chirac's nose is out of joint because he missed out on the influx of herchey bars & nylons Posted by: Big E at April 9, 2003 06:27 AMChirac and Baghdad Bob should get together as a comedy duo. Baghdad Bob would, of course, be the straight man. Posted by: Pawel at April 9, 2003 06:28 AMThe dismal experience of the UN "in charge" in several places negates any perceived advantage other than to restrain immediate civil war. The coalition is certainly able to fulfill this, and much more. The UN can wait until a new Iraqu government is ready to join. Posted by: John Anderson at April 9, 2003 06:29 AMBush needs to publicly put Chirac in his place once and for all. F*** diplomacy. Chirac no longer deserves diplomacy. Posted by: americanstreet at April 9, 2003 06:33 AMSame here. Hope Bush will bash Chirac. And please OPEN your borders to people willing to live and work in the USA. I don't want to live anymore in France, a country of cowardness, of lazyness, of egoism... (logical results of socialism). LET ME JOIN YOU! I DONT WANT TO BE FRENCH ANYMORE! IT HURTS BEING FRENCH! Posted by: Hervé at April 9, 2003 06:38 AMIt's time to get out the six foot butterfly net for ol' Jacqui. Cue Kate Smith! Posted by: Bubba at April 9, 2003 06:45 AMJust when you think the French might worm their way back into the company of respectable nations, Chirac goes and puts his foot in it. I am just dying of curiosity - how exactly does the UN confer legitimacy? Is there a UN seal of approval laying around somewhere? The US government wasn't installed by the UN - is it legitimate? Posted by: T. Hartin at April 9, 2003 06:49 AMThe world is his stage. He's going to try and prolong his 15 minutes. What he needs is his god damned face slapped. Posted by: Phil at April 9, 2003 07:25 AMWhy no US media asks the Iraqis if they prefer to have a US or UN temporary administration ? Posted by: kyotodioxide at April 9, 2003 07:28 AMThe world is his stage. He's going to try and prolong his 15 minutes. What he needs is his god damned face slapped. With a shoe. Posted by: triticale at April 9, 2003 07:31 AMI'll bet my bottom dollar that the US will let France into this mix. They will do so much crying about how this will hurt their economy (behind closed doors of course to the State Department)that we won't want to damage them, even though they deserve a smack in the jaw. The US is generous to a fault, and France will exploit that. Without the UN, France in unable to exert any influence either politically or through force of arms, why we will prop them up is beyond me - but we will, you watch. Posted by: WooHoo at April 9, 2003 07:42 AMOnce the Administration begins overlaying a new Command and control, Let Chirac know that one of the questions that will be put to a plebesite is; France and the UN do YOU the Iraqi people want them In YOUR Country? Chiracs shills will come out lobbying...then the boot drops on them. The people answer chirac, and he moves onto his place in that dust bin of history building up over in the corner. Posted by: daw at April 9, 2003 07:50 AMThe American street and the British street demands to be listened to on this - we want no truck with the goddamned French. Their perfidy and greed have cost many Coalition and Iraqi lives. Blood is on their hands. They cannot be allowed to get away with this. Chirac has once again thrown down the gauntlet. He needs to be slapped down. The French nation must lose its crazy and immoral notion that it can steer world events. The French Government must be discredited internationally - "pour encourager les autres". The rest of the world, including Arab Governments and the Arab street, must be shown that France is a busted flush, a false ally, and a nonentity. Posted by: JohninLondon at April 9, 2003 08:04 AMFeance as a nation should rid itself of Chirac, before his fantasies do them more harm. LOTS of posts yesterday about how "pro-American" he is. Hmmmm. Suspiciously quiet today. The man has lost his nut and should be packed away wherever they keep crazy generals and heads of state... Posted by: aham at April 9, 2003 08:48 AMDoes anyone know how to say: "Screw you and the horse you didn't ride in on" in French? Posted by: md at April 9, 2003 09:21 AMCockney Rebel OK, I'll tone it down a bit. Screw the Frogs !!! A bas les Francaises !!! Go take a bath, and take the Arab street with you !!! Posted by: JohninLondon at April 9, 2003 09:42 AMMr. Chirac may go down in history as having invented a new sexual position ... "stepping on the end of your own crank" ... . Posted by: Jrm at April 9, 2003 09:51 AMmd: Allez vous faire enculer, y compris le cheval sur lequel vous n'êtiez pas quand vous êtes arrivés. God even the Shredder and the German government look reasonable compared to this guy. Posted by: dualcitizen at April 9, 2003 11:00 AMPost a comment
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