France Calls For New Iraq Prime Minister

France's foreign minister risked fracturing his country's new relationship with America yesterday, by calling for Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, to be replaced.

In an interview published in the American magazine Newsweek, Bernard Kouchner, who visited Baghdad last week, said: "I just had (Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State) on the phone 10 or 15 minutes ago, and I told her, 'Listen, he's got to be replaced'.

"Many people believe the prime minister ought to be changed. I don't know if that will go through though, because it seems President [George W] Bush is attached to Mr Maliki. But the government is not functioning," said Mr Kouchner.

Last week, President Bush defended the record of Mr Maliki, calling him "a good guy, a good man with a difficult job and I support him."

Mr Bush had however earlier expressed his "frustration" with Mr Maliki and his failure to unite sectarian factions within the government, while several prominent US senators have called for Iraq's parliament to vote him out, raising the pressure on the prime minister.

President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to stand behind his foreign secretary's latest remarks in Paris today when he addresses ambassadors in Paris to outline a more assertive role for France on the world stage.

He told a cabinet meeting on Friday: "France must be present in Iraq, France must be present in countries throughout the Arab world. She must have a foreign policy that shows international influence."

Since taking office in May, Mr Sarkozy has been active on the diplomatic front, shifting from the stance of his predecessor Jacques Chirac, who had been the most vocal opponent of Mr Bush's Iraq policy.

The 52-year-old French leader is widely seen as pro-American, spending a two-week holiday at a lakeside resort in the state of New Hampshire this month.

During his stay he held what the White House described as a "heart-to-heart talk" with Mr Bush over lunch at the president's family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine.

In another interview published over the weekend, Mr Kouchner told Le Parisien newspaper: "We are not making anti-Americanism the basis of our policy. That is perhaps a bit of a change."

Mr Kouchner also called for more European involvement in Iraq, saying that "everything is at stake there, even for children and grand-children".

Mr Kouchner took French foreign policy in a new direction last week when he visited Baghdad, offering to help stabilise the country four years after France led opposition to the US invasion.

A US state department spokesman said: "Other countries are free to state their position but we stand where we stand." In Baghdad, Mr Maliki demanded an official apology for Mr Kouchner's remarks.

He also criticised leading Democrats, Hillary Clinton and Carl Levin, who called for his removal last week. He said they "talk as if Iraq is their property". "They should come to their senses".

Last night, flanked by Sunni and Kurd political leaders, the Shia prime minister announced that the factions had signed a statement that they were attempting to foster reconciliation.

"I just had (Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State) on the phone 10 or 15 minutes ago, and I told her, 'Listen, he's got to be replaced'.

I'm not necessarily the hugest fan of Maliki, but this is puzzling. What business is it of France's, of all nations, who the Prime Minister of Iraq is? And why should anyone care what France thinks either way? France is an uninvolved third-party country to this entire issue. Iraq is a different country from France. It is not a part of France. It is not even all that near to France. Neither is France a U.S. ally in this endeavor (they chose not to be). France has nothing whatsoever to do with any of this.

So, here I am told a French guy says he thinks the Iraqi Prime Minister ought to be replaced.

And I - or anyone else - should care, why?

Why is a French guy on the phone to Rice telling her what he thinks should happen in Iraq? Why is Rice listening to him sound forth on the subject? What has any of it got to do with him, or any other French person, in the first damn place?

Sometimes these France stories just drive me crazy. It's as if the whold world is mad, suffering from some delusion that the opinions and pronouncements of France are relevant and interesting to every single world event. Where did this idea come from? And when will it be jettisoned?

He told a cabinet meeting on Friday: "France must be present in Iraq, France must be present in countries throughout the Arab world. She must have a foreign policy that shows international influence."

Good luck Mr. Sarkozy. Your nation chose not to be "present in Iraq". Maybe if it had been otherwise, I'd care what your foreign minister thought about Iraq. Maybe if you do establish a presence in Iraq, then I'll feel compelled to listen. But in that order.

France seems to think she can have a say in and influence in all world events without lifting a finger or taking any sort of responsibility in the matter. Where did they get this inflated idea of themselves? Because their language is so elegant? Is that it? Is it because of the language? The pretty, pretty language?

Mr Kouchner took French foreign policy in a new direction last week when he visited Baghdad, offering to help stabilise the country four years after France led opposition to the US invasion.

Well, I for one can't wait to see Mr. Kouchner roll up his sleeves and get to work on helping to stabilize Iraq. That oughta be a sight to behold.

This is *not* bad news.

Kouchner is the leftist to listen to, *not* Tauscher.

And, thanks again, cincinna et al.

Kouchner (French Foreign Minister under Sarkozy) pays unexpected visit to Iraq
Daily Star (Lebanon) | Monday, August 20, 2007 | staff
Posted on 08/19/2007 7:00:19 PM EDT by Cincinna
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1883542/posts

France shifts its stance on the conflict in Iraq
The International Herald Tribune | August 21, 2007 | Katrin Bennhold
Posted on 08/21/2007 8:12:04 PM EDT by Lucius Cornelius Sulla
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1884546/posts

FRANCE’S PRO-U.S. TURN ON IRAQ FOREIGN MINISTER’S SURPRISE VISIT
New York Post | August 21, 2007 | AMIR TAHERI
Posted on 08/22/2007 3:46:31 AM EDT by Cincinna
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1884682/posts

France opens door to helping Iraqi troops
Swiss Info.Org | August 24, 2007 | staff
Posted on 08/25/2007 4:35:07 AM EDT by Cincinna
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1886346/posts

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