Clinton was giving advice to help his old pal and solve the impasse...except Bill didn't want the impasse solved.
What Bill thought was that Chirac and Schroeder would lure Bush into working with the UN, and that they could humiliate the US and keep us tied up forever in Blixomania.
This was not an effort to help Blair, but rather one to sabotage Bush (Blair would have been collateral damage).
I am also certain that Bush knew that Clinton was talking to Blair.
BINGO!!!
What Bill thought was that Chirac and Schroeder would lure Bush into working with the UN, and that they could humiliate the US and keep us tied up forever in Blixomania.
This was not an effort to help Blair, but rather one to sabotage Bush (Blair would have been collateral damage).
I'd have to sift back through the threads, but this all fits neatly with that comment of Clinton's, where he says something to the effect of: "... the U.S. should be preparing for a future where it is no longer the most powerful nation, yada, yada..." It sounded like sour grapes at the time and Clinton has a tendency to blurt out what's really going through his mind, but only when he's angry over not getting his way. That comment might've followed the realization that he'd been bested yet again.