France calls for American 'reason'

Telegraph (UK) ^ | 09/14/2001 | Harry de Quetteville and Toby Helm

[dighton]

POLITICAL leaders in France and Germany urged President Bush yesterday to avoid a belligerent response, as fears grew in Europe of the consequences of swift and ruthless military reaction to the terrorist attacks.

Lionel Jospin, the French Prime Minister, said the Americans should be "reasonable" in their response. Alain Richard, his defence minister, said the attacks were "not acts of war".

The comments, echoed by senior German ministers if not by the Chancellor, Gerhard Schroder, contradicted statements by President Bush and his Secretary of State Colin Powell.

M Jospin said: "We must vigorously condemn and combat terrorism. But we must not allow ourselves to be led into considerations of a conflict between the western world and the Islamic world, where we have many friends and partners."

The remarks from the Socialist prime minister were aimed at reassuring both the France's political Left and its Muslim population, which numbers six million. But they will be seen as further evidence of disagreements between France and America on big foreign policy issues.

The comments by M Richard will also undermine American confidence in France's commitment to joint reprisals as outlined by Nato members on Wednesday. He said: "I think that this was a terrorist attack of particular gravity.

"American democracy is clearly endangered by such action, but in my opinion a war is something else entirely." France disagrees with US policy on missile defence, the bombing of Iraq and what it sees as American cultural imperialism.

Rudolf Scharping, the German defence minister, also cautioned against launching swift military strikes. "I hope we all remain calm and do not now speak of a state of alarm. We do not face a war.

"We face the question of what is an appropriate response," he told German television. "Not in the sense of revenge and retribution, but in order to be able to fight and break international terror."

France's maverick health minister, Bernard Kouchner, went as far yesterday as to put the attacks down to a "series of errors" by America. "America's made a real mistake in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which was to train the Taliban," M Kouchner said.

"To think now that there is some kind of consensus of 'honourable' nations against the 'bad' terrorists, is simply not true."

© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2001.</font color>

[cc2k]

I'm surprised. All of these official pronouncements from French officials. All talking about a potential war, and not one French official mentions surrendering.

Actually, it looks like they're advising us to surrender.

Let's not follow the French example in this war.

[truthkeeper]

Man, I'd better not say what's really on my mind in response to this garbage. Jim would ban me forever.
A disgusted BTTT.

[LibKill]

Bert, you have gone from the silly to the absurd.

I pledge $20 to a fund that will enable you to drink yourself to death.

Anyone else?

[demkicker]

"If these fools played football, they would most likely kick on first down."

Now that's one funny as hell remark! Thanks for the laugh. I needed it!

[JeepInMazar]

American 'reason'

Don't worry, France, we will indeed use American "reason". It's different than French "reason".

[SFConservative]

... they are predictable ...

Defense analyst and former (under 41) Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Jed Babbin agreed with you this morning on KSFO. He said "... we can count on the French, they're always there when they need us."

[Husker24]

Bush should save one Tamahawk for Paris.

[Husker24]

Bush should save one Tomahawk for Paris.

[dalereed]

Whatever those commies say, do the opposite!!!

[vannrox]

I don't care what the French think.

[Scott from the Left Coast]

We should save one "special" weapon for Paris.

[mathurine]

Say, fellow. Name one contribution to modern science that will be lost if the entire Islamic world is destroyed. One contribution to literature. One contribution to manufacture? One contribution to anything but terrorism? Islam is a vast void. As a religion it may have something to offer. As a culture it has been responsible for taking the part of the world where it holds sway from world prominence before it came on the scene, to a steady and constant decline to the point where the people who once gave us Alexander the Great, Darius, the Pharoahs, and so forth are now struggling to rival even sub-tropical Africa and the unpromising regions of Siberia in terms of the quality of their civilization-- and probably will lose ground even in that race. The DNA of these people did not change in the last 1500 years to bring them from greatness to nothingness. The climate did not change much either. One thing changed-- their culture. They adopted a close-minded, backward and inward-looking, unimaginative, uncreative and unegalitarian world-view, coupled with a hateful and jealous perspective with respect to other better-informed and more adequate cultures. Islam is the cultural black hole of mankind wherever it prevails.

[america76]

The French don't want the terrorists to find out all the weapons they have been selling them are junk.

[nopardons]

If we've " made errors ", then what shall we call what France did at the end of WW1 ? How about crushingly STUPID, PALPABLY CRETINOUS IDIOCY ?

If the French and Germans want us to be reasoable now, maybe we should deport all of the known terorists here, to those countries.

[DallasDeb]

True to form.

Yup.

Alain Richard, his defence minister, said the attacks were "not acts of war".

Wonder what they'd think if terrorists slammed into the Eifel Tower, followed by an obliteration of the Louvre. Of course, the body count wouldn't near that of the WTC.

[A+Bert (Outta here)]

How do you think the Donner Party survived and the many of the defenders of Stalingrad and who knows where else.

We have just seen an example of a highly tech society brought to its knees. Temporarily but 18 people who some call fanaticd did it.

Hell they even took sports off TV.

[bkwells]

No suprise here.... Lest we forget they didn't let us fly over their airspace when we bombed Libya.... Let's fly over them now and "accidently" drop one!

[Capitalist Eric]

Let's not get down on the French, people. After all, I have a case of French rifles to sell. They're like new, they've only been dropped twice.

ROFLMAO!!!!!

[BenF]

And may I be the first to start a boycott of french wine, french travel, french perfume, french fashion.

No. You've got to get behind a long line of the rest of us who have been boycotting the whores of the world for years.

I'm reminded of an episode of Taxi (a comedy series from the 70's) where the gang took a trip to France. After Alex (the main character) spends days taking this French girl he picks up all around town spending all his money on her, he finally realizes he's out of cash. She immediately leaves him, to which he asks, "What kind of woman spends all this time with me spending all my money, and then drops me flat when I run out?". Her response is a single word: "French".