Posted on 04/09/2003 9:28:50 PM PDT by Dec31,1999
THEY'RE BAAAAAACK!
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April 9, 2003 -- French President Jacques Chirac, having failed to keep Saddam Hussein in power, is now reordering the Axis of Weasel to cash in on the American-led liberation of Iraq. How do you say "chutzpah" in French?
Chirac yesterday demanded - yes, demanded! - that "the political, economic, humanitarian and administrative reconstruction of Iraq is a matter for the United Nations and for it alone."
And he intends to meet this week with fellow weasels Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to enlist them to the cause.
Frankly, they can stuff it.
To be sure, President Bush has endorsed giving the United Nations a "vital role" in the reconstruction of Iraq - though yesterday he defined that as purely advisory in nature.
No doubt, he did this to help provide political cover to Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has long pressed for a U.N. presence in postwar Iraq.
We're not unmindful of Blair's political concerns. He has risked his career to aid America in the War on Terror, and he deserves every possible consideration.
Emphasis on "possible."
The fact is that the United Nations has no legitimate role to play in the rebuilding of Iraq.
It was a big part of the problem in the run-up to the war - thus abdicating its claim to be a part of the solution.
As for France - well, what remains to be said?
Chirac's intransigence regarding military action was rooted in his need to protect that nation's economic interests.
Indeed, Chirac's outrageous demand is little more than a global demonstration of the old adage that "all politics is local."
With the collapse of Saddam's regime, Chirac is seeing the evaporation of decades' worth of commercial investment in Iraq by French companies.
Now, he's trying to get those same companies a piece of the rebuilding action.
Which is why his government is up in arms over a statement yesterday by Blair's trade and industry secretary, Patricia Hewitt, that obviously hit too close to home for comfort.
Asked what role she foresees for French and Russian firms in rebuilding postwar Iraq, Hewitt replied: "I must say, if I were an Iraqi minister in the new Iraqi government, I think I would personally take a poor view of companies that have been breaking U.N. sanctions and supporting Saddam's vile regime."
"Not acceptable," sniffed the French foreign ministry.
Dead-on accurate, we say.
Fact is, France and its allies put the kibosh on U.N. endorsement of the forced disarming of Saddam because they feared full disclosure of their treacherous under-the-table deals with his regime.
That left America, Britain and their allies to put thousands of young lives on the line to do the heavy lifting instead.
Now, the world is all but rid of the Butcher of Baghdad.
No thanks to France. Or Russia. Or Germany. Or Hans Blix and his cadre of nearsighted weapons "inspectors."
The Coalition of the Willing is bearing the burden. Alone.
And the Coalition of the Willing will determine the initial course of Iraq's reconstruction - alone - before control of the country is turned over to the Iraqi people themselves.
As for the unholy trinity of Chirac, Putin and Schroeder - they can sit back and watch from the sidelines.
Weasels.
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Digging latrines is a very vital role in the reconstruction of Iraq.
DITTO !!
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