French to Bush: 'We Were right' on Iraq
Nation Feels Vindicated Over War, But May Not be Ready to Help
by Elizabeth Bryant
PARIS -- Anti-war weasel no more.
As President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell head off to Europe this week, French commentators are savoring the headline in Washington's prestigious policy magazine, the National Journal, that "the French were right" all along in opposing the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
This very basic change in American strategy can be summed up in two words: Too late. There's no way a French, or a German, or a Russian politician can explain to his people why they would risk being associated with the mess created by the Americans -- just so the Americans can be home before the next presidential elections.
Francois Heisbourg, director of the Paris-based Foundation for Strategic Research
Even before Americans counted their latest casualties -- 17 dead in Saturday's dual helicopter crash -- France's leading newspaper, Le Monde, was reporting with satisfaction that french fries and French bread are back in favor in Washington, and "the Congressional French Caucus has become one of the capital's choicest clubs."
"Of course, there's a feeling we were right and they were wrong," said Etienne Schweisguth, a researcher for the Center for the Study of French Political Life in Paris.
Whether such feelings of vindication will translate into magnanimous offers of French help to its beleaguered Atlantic ally is far more doubtful.
While some analysts here believe France and other European countries have to step up with tangible assistance -- if only to prevent Iraq from exporting terrorism and instability to their own shores -- others suggest there is little appetite to help an American administration that dismissed war doubters like France as out-of-touch "old Europe."
"This very basic change in American strategy can be summed up in two words: Too late," said Francois Heisbourg, director of the Paris-based Foundation for Strategic Research, of Washington's accelerated deadline for transferring power to Iraqi authorities by next June.
Not only do U.S. and European views on Iraq remain radically different, say French experts on international affairs, but European diplomats are assessing the latest American move as being driven by election-year calculations.
"Had this happened in July, you would have had 50,000 to 60,000 European troops in Iraq," Heisbourg said. "But there's no way a French, or a German, or a Russian politician can explain to his people why they would risk being associated with the mess created by the Americans -- just so the Americans can be home before the next presidential elections."
To be sure, there is no indication that Washington, having been repeatedly rebuffed, will again ask "old Europe" to send troops or to pledge money when Powell meets his diplomatic counterparts from the European Union in Brussels today and Tuesday. Nor are other Europeans -- who watched television images of Italian troops returning home from Baghdad in coffins -- lining up to help.
"The French and the Europeans could play a diplomatic role when it comes to Iraq," Schweisguth said. "But I think the attitude will be one of minimum service."
Such predictions were underscored by a series of remarks in the past few days by French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.
France, he said, is holding out an "extended hand" to our American friends and is "ready today for any meeting, all discussions."
But in an interview published today in the French daily Le Croix, de Villepin scorned as "too late" the Bush administration's plan to cede sovereignty to an Iraqi provisional government by June. Calling for a transfer of power within the next six weeks, de Villepin said: "We are in an extremely urgent situation."
But for all the urgency, de Villepin has deftly ducked questions about sending French troops and other aid to Baghdad.
"If there is a provisional government, then it will be time to ask Iraqis how they want to maintain security in their own country," Villepin said, insisting Iraq's main problem was its American-led occupying force.
In France's rainy, chilly capital on Sunday, ordinary Parisians offered a more mixed view.
"Bush wants to be re-elected next year, and politicians change ideas like shirts," said Algerian Hocine Aid, offering his own primer on American politics as he hawked shoes at a packed outdoor market in northern Paris. "But the Europeans are also hypocritical. They should be giving Iraqis assistance to help them out of their misery."
Nearby, Marie-Claude Herdzina packed oranges and red peppers into her bulging shopping cart. "France should give America some diplomatic help, but that's it," said the 48-year-old housewife. "Bush is a manipulator, and we don't have the troops."
Those hopeful of a solution point to Afghanistan as a model of postwar trans-Atlantic cooperation, which could be restyled to Iraqi needs. French aid to Iraq may not come in the form of troops, but other kinds of security assistance could be offered.
The more skeptical believe such Franco-American cooperation is unlikely because neither Paris nor Washington has shown much interest in resolving their differences over the Iraq war.
"The Germans have backtracked a bit, but the French moved the line all the time when it came to Iraq," said Paul Godt, a French politics professor at the American University in Paris. "So I can't imagine anybody in the Bush administration tipping their hat in any way to the French."
©2003 San Francisco Chronicle
Nation Feels Vindicated Over War, But May Not be Ready to Help
by Elizabeth Bryant
PARIS -- Anti-war weasel no more.
As President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell head off to Europe this week, French commentators are savoring the headline in Washington's prestigious policy magazine, the National Journal, that "the French were right" all along in opposing the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
This very basic change in American strategy can be summed up in two words: Too late. There's no way a French, or a German, or a Russian politician can explain to his people why they would risk being associated with the mess created by the Americans -- just so the Americans can be home before the next presidential elections.
Francois Heisbourg, director of the Paris-based Foundation for Strategic Research
Even before Americans counted their latest casualties -- 17 dead in Saturday's dual helicopter crash -- France's leading newspaper, Le Monde, was reporting with satisfaction that french fries and French bread are back in favor in Washington, and "the Congressional French Caucus has become one of the capital's choicest clubs."
"Of course, there's a feeling we were right and they were wrong," said Etienne Schweisguth, a researcher for the Center for the Study of French Political Life in Paris.
Whether such feelings of vindication will translate into magnanimous offers of French help to its beleaguered Atlantic ally is far more doubtful.
While some analysts here believe France and other European countries have to step up with tangible assistance -- if only to prevent Iraq from exporting terrorism and instability to their own shores -- others suggest there is little appetite to help an American administration that dismissed war doubters like France as out-of-touch "old Europe."
"This very basic change in American strategy can be summed up in two words: Too late," said Francois Heisbourg, director of the Paris-based Foundation for Strategic Research, of Washington's accelerated deadline for transferring power to Iraqi authorities by next June.
Not only do U.S. and European views on Iraq remain radically different, say French experts on international affairs, but European diplomats are assessing the latest American move as being driven by election-year calculations.
"Had this happened in July, you would have had 50,000 to 60,000 European troops in Iraq," Heisbourg said. "But there's no way a French, or a German, or a Russian politician can explain to his people why they would risk being associated with the mess created by the Americans -- just so the Americans can be home before the next presidential elections."
To be sure, there is no indication that Washington, having been repeatedly rebuffed, will again ask "old Europe" to send troops or to pledge money when Powell meets his diplomatic counterparts from the European Union in Brussels today and Tuesday. Nor are other Europeans -- who watched television images of Italian troops returning home from Baghdad in coffins -- lining up to help.
"The French and the Europeans could play a diplomatic role when it comes to Iraq," Schweisguth said. "But I think the attitude will be one of minimum service."
Such predictions were underscored by a series of remarks in the past few days by French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.
France, he said, is holding out an "extended hand" to our American friends and is "ready today for any meeting, all discussions."
But in an interview published today in the French daily Le Croix, de Villepin scorned as "too late" the Bush administration's plan to cede sovereignty to an Iraqi provisional government by June. Calling for a transfer of power within the next six weeks, de Villepin said: "We are in an extremely urgent situation."
But for all the urgency, de Villepin has deftly ducked questions about sending French troops and other aid to Baghdad.
"If there is a provisional government, then it will be time to ask Iraqis how they want to maintain security in their own country," Villepin said, insisting Iraq's main problem was its American-led occupying force.
In France's rainy, chilly capital on Sunday, ordinary Parisians offered a more mixed view.
"Bush wants to be re-elected next year, and politicians change ideas like shirts," said Algerian Hocine Aid, offering his own primer on American politics as he hawked shoes at a packed outdoor market in northern Paris. "But the Europeans are also hypocritical. They should be giving Iraqis assistance to help them out of their misery."
Nearby, Marie-Claude Herdzina packed oranges and red peppers into her bulging shopping cart. "France should give America some diplomatic help, but that's it," said the 48-year-old housewife. "Bush is a manipulator, and we don't have the troops."
Those hopeful of a solution point to Afghanistan as a model of postwar trans-Atlantic cooperation, which could be restyled to Iraqi needs. French aid to Iraq may not come in the form of troops, but other kinds of security assistance could be offered.
The more skeptical believe such Franco-American cooperation is unlikely because neither Paris nor Washington has shown much interest in resolving their differences over the Iraq war.
"The Germans have backtracked a bit, but the French moved the line all the time when it came to Iraq," said Paul Godt, a French politics professor at the American University in Paris. "So I can't imagine anybody in the Bush administration tipping their hat in any way to the French."
©2003 San Francisco Chronicle
