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Thursday, March 20, 2003

The French are Fighting Mad (with words), and I don't blame them  

In an article in the Guardian Unlimited, the French respond to unbelievable accusations by the British that this war is their fault:

"French newspapers yesterday complained that the British pro-war camp was guilty of "shameful distortion" of France's position on the second UN resolution. "Chirac, Blair's scapegoat," was the headline in an outraged Liberation, which said Mr Blair was plainly "criticising his neighbour to silence his critics".

"The American president, out of frustration, and the British prime minister, out of a pathetic need to justify himself, are fanning the latent Francophobia of their electorates," the paper said in its editorial yesterday. "By making Paris the scapegoat for their failures, they hope to dodge some embarrassing questions on the eve of a war thay they will wage alone against (almost) everyone, and having placed themselves beyond international law."

Le Figaro said Britain would "doubtless be weakened for a very long time" by the hole it had dug for itself over Iraq, while Le Monde said that Mr Blair had once again "decided to dump on France the main bulk of the responsibility for his own diplomatic failure". In a stinging editorial, France's newspaper of record said Mr Blair's efforts to win a majority for a second resolution had failed and that "contrary to the internationalist principles he has avowed since the start", the war would now begin without specific UN authorisation."

Apparently, Blair and Bush, given the tactics of both, are soulmates.

# posted by scorpiorising : 5:58 AM |

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