France's ambassador to the US, Jean David Levitte, took up his duties in Washington last December.
Before that, he was France's permanent representative to the United Nations, where he was posted for two years.
Posted on 04/17/2003 9:58:46 AM PDT by ellery
The French ambassador to Washington, Jean-David Levitte, has pleaded for a stop to "French-bashing" by Americans now the war with Iraq is at an end.
Singling out prominent businessman and commentator Richard Perle, who is a close friend of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Mr Levitte said Mr Perle's "French-bashing is not very useful". He said it had triggered a vicious cycle of anti-Americanism back in France and he hoped it could now stop.
Mr Levitte's remarks came the day after French President Jacques Chirac telephoned US President George Bush and told him he wanted to play "a pragmatic role" in the reconstruction issues in Iraq.
It was the first time the two leaders had spoken since the breakdown of negotiations at the UN Security Council over Iraq and the call was accepted only after repeated pleading by French diplomats, it has emerged.
The US-French relationship faces another challenge soon. The UN Security Council must decide on the role of the UN in the reconstruction of Iraq, specifically whether a US-led administration will get access to the oil-for-food program.
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Mr Levitte would not be drawn on whether France would push for a greater UN role in Iraq, but answering critical questions from the audience at Washington's University Club, he rejected claims that France was now anxious to get a share of lucrative postwar contracts in Iraq.
"We don't consider Iraq an El Dorado," said Mr Levitte. "We don't see any cake in Iraq but we see a huge burden."
He was also pessimistic about Iraq's transition to democracy, saying it was deeply divided between Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds and bringing stability and democracy to the country would be a "daunting and long-term ambition".
He explained the divisions between Europe and the US on Iraq as the result of both history and the September 11 attacks.
Mr Levitte was working in his post at the UN in New York on the day of the attack and saw the towers collapse. "Here you are at war," he said. In Europe, the battle with terrorism was more a low-intensity conflict that Europe had struggled with for several decades.
Two centuries of war and fragile borders made Europe more concerned about national sovereignty and opposed to pre-emptive military action.
France's ambassador to the US, Jean David Levitte, took up his duties in Washington last December.
Before that, he was France's permanent representative to the United Nations, where he was posted for two years.
And therein lies the difference. You put up with it and appease it. We isolate and destroy it.
You grovel before the terrorists and beg their forgiveness. We eliminate them.
And we would really like the french to cease spiriting those Ba'ath officials out of Syria and providing them asylum to cover up their illegal involvements with Iraq over the years.
And I want my own Abrams tank.
I wonder which of us is likely to be happy first?
When digging yourself into a hole, the easiest way out is to stop digging...
Congressman Billybob
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