[Nick Danger]

I think there might be another sub-plot going on here that might ultimately come as quite a surprise to the French. The Germans look to be a bit out of phase on this, with rumors running hot and cold of a split between Schröder and Fischer. In the background of all this, peeking out behind this tree and then that one, is Vladimir Putin. Here's Putin on stage with Schröder. Here he is with Chirac. Now we find out that Germany's Fischer is a serious "red," with a long history of Interesting Acquaintances among left-wing terrorist groups, including the Baader-Meinhof gang. The one-time head of Romania's intelligence service thinks Fischer may have been involved with the KGB. Hmmmm.

Chirac may have one plan for the EU, with one fan in Schröder. Putin may have a different plan, and Fischer may be part of it.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Well we have this, no mention of Fischer though:

Putin keeps options open on Iraq war ...

[Billthedrill]

Yeh - isn't it lovely? France and Germany are trying to pull the EU tiller, Russia is merrily wiggling it both ways and laughing as the boat rocks. Fact is, Russia stands to gain from a weakened NATO since she has a military and the EU does not. I'd like to think that Chirac and Schroeder took that into account, but those two incompetents don't seem to have it in them, and Putin is more than capable of eating their lunch and handing them the bill.