Posted on 12/26/2003 4:44:10 PM PST by saquin
FRENCH fears of being ostracised by America for opposing the war in Iraq were highlighted yesterday as commentators reacted angrily to the terrorist alert that led to the cancellation of six transatlantic flights over Christmas.
Many French newspapers interpreted the alert as the latest episode in what Le Monde described as the “masked war” between France and the US.
They said after being kept in the dark over the agreement for Libya to surrender its weapons of mass destruction, France had been implicitly designated as the weak link in the fight against terrorism.
A total of six flights between Paris and Los Angeles were cancelled by Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the Prime Minister, on the recommendation of the American authorities, who said they had intelligence information of a hijack plan.
But after checking the passenger lists, French police said they had found no evidence of a threat. The main suspect signalled by the American embassy was a Tunisian man who was at home in Tunisia and had no intention of flying to Los Angeles, they said.
Seven other passengers were questioned on the advice of the US authorities but were released without charge.
French officials said they did not want to cancel the flights but had bowed to the Bush Administration. “They really put us under pressure,” said one official.
The affair highlighted the chasm separating Paris from Washington following the war in Iraq. France’s regional press, which tends to accurately reflect public opinion, seized upon the incident as proof of a plot against France.
Jacques Camus, writing in La République du Centre, said: “The question is whether the French Government did not fall victim to spin and a rather cynical manipulation. This was the best way for America to get France to share its anguish over terrorism.”
When Britain and the US announced they had signed an agreement for Libya to give up its weapons of mass destruction, the French media was shocked to discover its government had been kept in the dark.
The daily, Libération, said the Libyan deal illustrated that France had entered a zone of “glorious solitude”, while the Bush Administration mulled over its revenge.
French anguish increased when Washington backed Japan in its battle with France to host an international experimental thermo-nuclear reactor. Last week’s negotiations over the reactor ended in deadlock and fresh talks will be held in February.
Yeah, that's right, France. We're not really concerned about terrorists using airplanes to attack our country (again). It's all just one big plot to embarrass the French. The Orange Alert, the National Guard troops guarding NYC subway stations, the extra security at LAX. It's all part of a big elaborate ruse. You caught us! All we really want to do is make you, the French, look foolish.
(God, could these Frogs be more self-absorbed?)
It isn't the weak link. It is a strong link in terrorism's war against the U.S.
The French (along with their U.N.) are always correct!
Just ask them!
/sarcasm
We don't have to "mask" a war. If we want a war with france, we can send in a couple troops of boy scouts with cap guns and take the place.
Infantile
Remember Richard Reid?
The French were free to just say no to the evil Texan cowboy. The only thing was that the planes could not land on US soil, or fly over it. Maybe they could have flown to those French islands off Quebec, and the passengers from there could have made their way to the mainland, and from there work their way in due course to Los Angeles. And of course, Bush just did it all to stick it to the French. After all, I am sure either he, or his evil Rasputan, Karl Rove, reads and takes the advice of the steroidal types right here on this site.
Cancel landing rights and flyover rights to Air France or other flights originating in France. If other alliance carriers object, cancel them out as well. suspend any US airline flights scheduled to France. They cannot be trusted as their interests are advanced by damage to the US economy and revearses to US Foreign policy. The simple reason they were left in the dark on the Lybia negotiations is that they would have screwed them up. I recall a Frence Expat who repeatedly wrote to the Nation Newspaper in Bangkok with the theam that USA deserved 9/11 and he was glad for every American death because of what we did to the third world (quoted Noam Chomsky a lot the sob).
Implicitly? They sure don't take a hint. I'll be happy to come right out and say - as explicitly as I can - that France is not only the "weak link" in the fight against terrorism, but the among the Muslim terrorists' greatest allies.
If the shoe fits...
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