Free Republic

The French government has been notably restrained in their criticism of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for unleashing a pandemic upon the world.  One possible reason for their reticence is a single, highly embarrassing fact: They essentially built the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s P4 lab in which the coronavirus now sweeping the world was being researched, and from which it escaped.  That the French delivered the turn-key, high-containment biolab to China has long been public knowledge, but now a German newspaper, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, has added riveting details to the story.  The insider information comes from interviews with French...

The Iraq war and John F. Kerry's crushing loss appear to have convinced Jacque Chirac to go ahead with plans to start a government-funded international news network.Chirac is calling it "CNN à la française." He hopes to "make France radiate" around the world.He ought to study Air America and perhaps get some tips from Al Franken.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari appealed Tuesday for NATO to quickly begin its promised mission to train his country's armed forces and provide assistance including military hardware. "We need this training ... to be carried out as soon as possible," Zebari told reporters at NATO headquarters. "We are in a race against time — it's a matter of urgency." NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the 26 allies would decide this month on launching the training mission. He said the alliance would also consider Zebari's requests for military equipment, help guarding Iraq's borders and protection...

PARIS — Did President Jacques Chirac of France actually tell half of Europe to shut up last week? Was he scolding a bunch of unruly children? Not exactly. Translating the nuances of the "language of diplomacy," as French was once known, can be très difficile. Although France and Germany have stood at the forefront of European resistance to the Bush administration's position on Iraq, 13 East European countries have expressed support for the United States. They include Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, already accepted by the European Union as future members, and 10 others, most of them candidates for...