French begged Bush to take call

The Daily Telegraph ^ | April 17, 2003 | Toby Harnden

[MadIvan]

A clear-the-air telephone call between President Jacques Chirac and President George W Bush this week was secured only by repeated pleading from French diplomats, it emerged yesterday. The 20-minute call on Tuesday was the first time they had spoken for more than two months.

When asked if the talk had been "positive", Ari Fleischer, Mr Bush's spokesman, said: "From the President's point of view, he would call it a business-like conversation." M Chirac's spokesman said he had been "pragmatic" about post-war Iraq.

Before the call could be arranged, Jean-David Levitte, the French ambassador to Washington, had to lobby Karl Rove, Mr Bush's chief political strategist, and Stephen Hadley, the deputy national security adviser, at the White House.

Final American agreement to the call was secured only after discussions on Monday between Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, and Dominique de Villepin, the French foreign minister.

Last week, Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy defence secretary, told senators: "The French have behaved in ways . . . that have been very damaging to Nato. I think France is going to pay some consequences, not just with us but with other countries."

A senior Bush administration official told The Washington Post: "What the French did . . . was serious and, yes, it is a problem. How much of a problem and how lasting it is going to be depend on the French. They can choose to make it much more serious, in which case the consequences will be there, and it will be very bad."

Mr Bush is known for being extremely slow to forgive those who have crossed him, particularly if he feels that they have been disloyal or dishonest. He was livid with Gerhard Schröder after the Chancellor's election campaign, which was widely seen as anti-American.

The anger towards France is deeper and more pervasive. French firms have suffered a loss of income from cancelled American orders and officials argue that the successful French attempt to scupper a second United Nations resolution extended far beyond M Chirac.

Mr Powell is understood to be still furious about the way in which he was treated by M de Villepin when he was called to a meeting supposedly about the international war against terrorism, only to be surprised by the French foreign minister declaring France's opposition to war with Iraq.

[2grit]

Do not trust the French, even when they grovel at our feet. It most assuredly is a feigned posture and the dagger remains hidden in the boot waiting for us to turn our gaze.

[Tribune7]

OK, but there going to take out the part about the sword and the pistol.

[Lancey Howard]

I like George W. Bush more all the time.


"Oh, alright.... I'll take the call from that foul, stinking, cheese-eating surrender monkey.... Put him through on the bathroom phone. I may as well take a dump while I'm telling that little pissant where to go."

[JZoback]

Anyone know of a good tasting bottled water????

Fiji Water

Premium water from the island of Fiji

British Commonwealth

[Shermy]

And after watching FNC tonight and hearing that the Mossad and US intelligence think that the French are using private planes to ferry select Iraqis out of Damascus back to France, I'm sure relations will deteriorate even worse. Especially when the part about the French intelligence agency helping Sadamn smuggle WMD's into Syria.

Hey, that was in DEBKA today!

[Shermy]

The conflict has escalated from neoconservative pundits to the man in the street who now despises France.

It escalated from the "man in the street." It's roots stretch way back, to the Libyan incident back aroud 1986

[CARepubGal]

May I join you Ivan? My opinion of the French is that we bollixed the 1918 peace accords: we should have given the Frogs to Germany. Any other comments would involve a lot of seriously foul language about the Cheese Eating Surrender Minkeys!

[Beck_isright]

It was???? Colonel Hunt and one of the other Generals brought it up on FNC tonight. Interesting....

[Just mythoughts]

Smile.

I still believe that Chirac was the front man for the Clintons, Russia, and Germany. Chirac's actions and words have the appearance of seduction with self aggrandizement.

I believe initially, this was an attempt to discredit President Bush. I think they really believed they thought they could stop President Bush.

Time will tell if the whole conspiracy gets told.

[antaresequity]

This reminds me of some dissed girlfriend getting her best friend to go over to Georges house to get him to 'pick up' the phone...

Too funney...

Bush is like no other President I have ever seen...love it

[Anamensis]

Mr Bush is known for being extremely slow to forgive those who have crossed him,

GOOD!! I like him more every day!

[Enemy Of The State]

"From the President's point of view, he would call it a business-like conversation"

You mean, the president was discussing business with a prostitute? haha..

[Kip Lange]

They should have to beg on camera in a new reality-tv show called, "Who Wants to Participate in Civilization?". Hey, actually, that could solve all our problems. Settle it on reality TV. Put Bush and Chirac on an island and...no, wait, Chirac is USED to not bathing and eating horrible food, he has an unfair advantage, I take that bag.

Any article with "French beg" in the title I am happy to read these days. :p

Further point -- America doesn't need to "understand" Europe. Or the "Arab street". We understand these people. We got STABBED IN THE BACK by some, but we even sort of expected that. And we understand the Arab street hates us. Gee, maybe that's why they try to keep KILLING us. :-)

No, no, Americans understand, but it's time...that the French started trying to understand America. Or Europe started trying to understand America. Or the Arab street started trying to understand America.

THAT'S where the knowledge gap is. Not over here. OVER THERE. After eight years of Clinton softness (12, if you count Bush I, who was soft on multilateral issues and sympathetic to the UN), Europe doesn't understand. They've forgotten what it's like when the Slumbering Giant wakes up and all of a sudden we have a President who is saying EXACTLY what he means and *following through* on his talk with hard action.

They're in shock.

And, I would add, they're also probably in awe.

Bottom line, though: They're DEFINITELY in perpetual *ENVY* (not jealousy, ENVY -- the Luciferian urge to destroy what you can't have).

[ladyjane]

The following story has been making the rounds.

A friend of mine is an officer in the naval reserve. A few weeks ago, he attended a conference that included admirals in both the US and the French navies. At a cocktail reception, my friend found himself in a small group that included an admiral from each of the two navies.

The French admiral started complaining that whereas Europeans learned many languages, Americans only learned English. He then asked. "Why is it that we have to speak English in these conferences rather than you have to speak French?"

Without even hesitating, the American admiral replied. "Maybe it is because we arranged it so that you did not have to learn to speak German."

The group became silent.

[Light Speed]

[freedumb2003]

Dees would be de crappier!

[Shermy]

It was???? Colonel Hunt and one of the other Generals brought it up on FNC tonight. Interesting....

Hopefully these retired "experts" aren't relying on Debka to be the voice of the Mossad. Could be true though, or disinfo, of the enjoyable variety.

US and France Vie for Iraq's Shiites (DEBKA)

[Beck_isright]

LOL, they said they had Pentagon sources, so I doubt they are using DEBKA. God help us all if they are!!!!!!!!! I just read that link after it was pointed out to me. What's scarey is that it actually is logical, even for DEBKA! I could believe the French betraying us this bad, I honestly could.

[Beck_isright]

A great story, true or false, LOL!!!!!!

[Victoria Delsoul]

Dees would be de crappier!

LOL.