At the E.U. meeting, it seems responsibility took over from showmanship, as Chirac, of all people, became cornered in the discussion over his deeply duplicitous dealings with U.N. Resolution 1441. His response? He emitted bullying noises towards the smaller Eastern European powers that have had the temerity to side with Washington in the war on terror. It was, of course, way over the line. But his very frustration implies that among European governments, there is not now and almost surely never will be unanimity in defense of the French position on Iraq. Chirac’s petty and self-interested posturing is a game, and that game will soon be over. But we shouldn’t forget the vision that sustains Chirac. As a reader put it:
What we have been witnessing since the Blix-Chirac-Schroeder “let the inspections go on” joint press conference in mid-January is nothing short of an attempted “preemptive strike” on the part of our putative allies. By binding together with one another, the goal is to pull the rug out from under the Bush and Blair administrations in an effort to sow domestic dissent in the US and Britain, to stop the war, and ultimately to trigger “regime change” in both the U.S. and Britain. That, my friend, is the gambit.
A little hyperbolic perhaps but not unconvincing. Chirac and Schroder particularly want to destroy Blair. He represents an alternative vision of Europe – more decentralized, more liberal, more flexible, more Atlanticist. And they would love to wound Bush. It seems to me the U.S. policy should now be a new deadline with clear guidelines as to what constitutes Saddam’s cooperation – destruction of the al Samoud missiles for a start. Then we need to focus entirely on the war itself – minimizing casualties while trying to make it as speedy as possible, above all, ensuring a democratic structure post-Saddam. Nothing else will undermine the current Franco-German position as effectively – both within Europe and with respect to the wider world. Then we have to cut France out of post-war Iraqi reconstruction.
The Dish 