French President Jacques Chirac and US President George Bush don't have much in common. One thing they do share is that neither of them will seek re-election.
Perhaps because he's on his way out anyway, Chirac today lambasted his American counterpart's screwup in Iraq.
"At Europe's gate, the Middle East has become an epicenter of international tensions," Chirac said. "Crises are building up and spreading."
"As France foresaw and feared, the war in Iraq caused upheavals whose effects have not yet finished unraveling," he said.
"The venture exacerbated the divisions between (Iraqi) communities and undermined the very integrity of Iraq," he said. "It weakened the stability of the region, where every country is now worried about its security and independence. It gave terrorism new terrain for expansion."
Now, "more than ever, the priority is to return sovereignty to the Iraqis," Chirac said.
Yeah Chirac, that's easy to say now - oh, forget it, they said it at the time, didn't they? It sounds as though the French president wants to rub a little salt into Bush's wounds. Payback is a bitch, non?
2 comments:
Hi MOS,
Chirac has never impressed me. He talks out of both sides of his mouth, promising international commitments that he doesn't come through on - eg, Lebanon and Iraq. And with respect to the "I told you so" attitude, de Villepin was the one who made the eloquent rebuttal to the American invasion.
You're right, it was de Villepin, speaking on behalf of France, who stood up to Bush. You're also right about Chirac and that's why he probably will retire after this term.
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