French Nonsense
Jacques Chirac is causing a stir again. The New York Times reports,
President Jacques Chirac called today for the immediate transfer of sovereignty in Iraq to the Iraqi people, and indicated that France would approve only a new United Nations resolution that recognized this need.In an hourlong interview at Élysée Palace, Mr. Chirac for the first time laid out a two-stage plan for Iraqi self-rule, the first stage being a symbolic transfer of sovereignty from American hands to the existing 25-member Iraqi Governing Council, followed by the gradual ceding of real power over a period of about six to nine months.
That lead makes the issue seem more provocative than it really is. Mr. Chirac has not threatened a veto, he is simply making the circumstances of French support more clear.
I want the Iraqi people to take over their own country as soon as possible, and we have certainly mangled this process in every way imaginable, but Chirac is in no position to be making these types of demands.
It does support the arguments that Thomas Friedman made last week that France is rapidly becoming our enemy. They have not only ceased actively supporting us, but have begun to actively oppose us. Chirac and the French people continue to delude themselves that they are somehow co-equal with the US in international affairs. They are wrong on that point, just as President Bush has been wrong in wielding the authority we have like a club to beat others into submission. The only recourse Chirac has left to save face is rhetoric and he is using it. The remaining question is how far is Chirac willing to go in defense of his rhetoric?