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It is in many ways the weirdest shard of reporting from those years, and its testimony is from no less than the former president of France: The president of the United States, in a top-secret phone call to a major European ally, asked for French troops to join American soldiers in attacking Iraq as a mission from God. Now out of office, Chirac recounts that the American leader appealed to their "common faith" (Christianity) and told him: "Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East…. The biblical prophecies are being fulfilled…. This confrontation is willed by God, who...

Another Day, Another Diplomatic Incident Another day, another diplomatic incident caused by the Obama administration. France is the latest ally to be insulted by President Obama. It seems that President Obama, according to the French newspaper Le Figaro, sent a letter to the President of France. The problem is that the letter was addressed to the former President of France, Jacques Chirac, and not to the actual President of France, Nicholas Sarkozy. The story is translated from French, Barack Obama Insults the Frenchcourtesy of Monsters and Critics:

It's long been the case that the easiest way for an American and a Brit - whatever their respective political persusasions - to bond is to chuckle over something rude about the French. Jokes about garlic, frogs' legs, surrender, duplicity, take your pick - it's safe ground. If Barack Obama had gone on Leno and made a barbed quip about our Gallic friends instead of the Special Olympics he'd have been home free. So perhaps the new president is being devilishly clever by, as Le Figaro reports, writing to Jacques Chirac, former French president, that: "I am certain that we...

March 22, 2009 Foreign Policy Gaffe Machine Strikes Again; Obama Sends Note to Chirac Pledging Friendship, Working Relationship Update: I agree with the commenters who think that Obama was just being cozy with Chirac, and hadn't actually forgotten who the President of France was. At the same time, this is a clear snub to Sarkozy and his pro-War on Terror policies (or at least, more pro-WOT than his predecessor). It's also slightly ridiculous for Bambi to claim to be looking forward to working with an out-of-power French leader, especially when he has made no visible effort to work with France's...

Help me out here folks Could he really be this stupid???? Now Obama has insulted French President Sarkozy! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oh no! Obama sent a letter to Chirac, saying he looks forward to working with him the next four years. Le Figaro, French newspaper is horrified at the faux pas. Doesn't Obama ever consult his staff before acting? Sarkozy is the President there! It's like Sarko writing to George Bush and saying he looks forward to working with him. Chirac is the FORMER president. Here is a translation of the letter in Le Figaro: Vendredi 20 mars 2009 OBAMA PREFERS CHIRAC...

Former French President Jacques Chirac was rushed to a hospital after being mauled by his pet dog who is being treated for depression, in a dramatic incident that rattled the ex-president's wife. The couple's white Maltese poodle, called Sumo, has a history of frenzied fits and became increasingly prone to making "vicious, unprovoked attacks" despite receiving treatment with anti-depressants, Chirac's wife Bernadette said.

Former French president Jacques Chirac was rushed to hospital after being mauled by his own 'clinically depressed' pet dog. The 76-year-old statesman was savaged by his white Maltese dog - which suffers from frenzied fits and is being treated with anti-depressants. The animal, named Sumo, had become increasingly violent over the past years and was prone to making 'vicious, unprovoked attacks', Chirac's wife Bernadette said. The former president, who ruled France for 12 years until 2007, was taken to hospital in Paris where he was treated as an outpatient and sent home, VSD magazine reported. Mrs Chirac said: 'The dog...

<p>Fox news ran stories last night based on some of the things we were tracking right here in this post. Here is their on line story.</p> <p>As unfinished as my research is, I feel compelled to release what I've found so far as the story cannot wait any longer.  I am not looking for a scoop on anyone or anything, but at the same time I don't want anyone thinking I made this stuff up after the fact either.</p>

I'm Absolut Swedish but NEVER EVER again will I buy Absolut Vodka and I will, at least, TRY to avoid other products of V&S Group (their repertoire is a pretty broad one though and I kinda party from time to time..), a former Swedish company which recently was sold to French Pernod Ricard (for the sum of €5,626 billion). I've also managed to convince my father and some of my friends to join my initiative and I'll continue to campaign! The background is, of course, the already infamous Absolut Vodka ad with the words "In an Absolut World" slapped over...

U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won surprise backing from the wife of former French President Jacques Chirac on Thursday, together with a pledge to join her on the campaign trail. The Chiracs' political affiliations are at the opposite end of the spectrum from the Clintons', but the former French first lady said she had always thought Democratic candidate Clinton had the makings of a U.S. president. "She's a woman who is not liked by everybody. But she's strong and she has convictions," Bernadette Chirac, well-known for a forceful character of her own, told the weekly Le Figaro magazine. In the...

PARIS (Reuters) - U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won surprise backing from the wife of former French President Jacques Chirac on Thursday, together with a pledge to join her on the campaign trail. The Chiracs' political affiliations are at the opposite end of the spectrum from the Clintons', but the former French first lady said she had always thought Democratic candidate Clinton had the makings of a U.S. president. "She's a woman who is not liked by everybody. But she's strong and she has convictions," Bernadette Chirac, well-known for a forceful character of her own, told the weekly Le Figaro...

Former President Jacques Chirac was placed under formal investigation on Wednesday on suspicion that he misused public funds by handing out bogus work contracts while mayor of Paris. Chirac's lawyer, Jacques Veil, said a judge examining "fraudulent misuse of public funds"questioned his client for three and a half hours on Wednesday. Veil said: "They talked in general terms about the organization of the Paris City Hall," which Chirac headed as mayor between 1977 and 1995. More hearings would follow, the lawyer said. Chirac, whose term ended in May, defended himself in an article published in Le Monde on Wednesday. He...

PARIS - Alleged wrongdoing in Jacques Chirac's past came back Wednesday to trouble his retirement, when a judge took the unprecedented step of filing preliminary embezzlement charges against the former two-term president of France. Chirac insisted he had committed no wrongdoing. Political opinion was divided on whether the judge had scored a victory for French justice or merely underscored its impotence — because only since he left office in May have judges been able to pursue Chirac. Since he lost his presidential immunity, Chirac has now been questioned by two different judges looking into suspected misuse of public money and...

SKY: Chirac placed under 'formal investigation' in jobs scame probe according to his lawyer.

Chirac's daughter caught in corruption probe Claude Chirac, the daughter of former French president Jacques Chirac, is under investigation over allegations of corruption during her father's tenure as Paris mayor, judicial officials said. A French judge has asked anti-fraud police to investigate her as part of a probe into an alleged party funding scam, they said. The 44-year-old acted as communications adviser to her father at Paris City Hall. Twenty people are under investigation in the case, in which members of the former president's Rally for the Republic (RPR) party are suspected of having received salaries from City Hall and...

One of the key promises that Nicolas Sarkozy had made during his presidential election campaign last spring was to "correct" foreign policy "mistakes" made by his predecessor Jacques Chirac. Chief among these was Chirac's desperate efforts to prevent the liberation of Iraq from Saddam Hussain's regime of terror. Chirac failed to save his friend's regime but managed to do serious damage to relations with the US, Great Britain and more than 40 other nations that joined the coalition of the willing to liberate Iraq in 2003. Sarkozy's moves to correct the mistake started even before his election when he met...

PARIS — President Chirac could become the first former French president to be questioned over alleged criminal acts while in office. Judges intend to question Mr. Chirac in the coming weeks despite his claims of immunity from prosecution. Recently discovered documents suggest Mr. Chirac could be at the heart of the Clearstream scandal — described as the French Watergate. Judges will question his former prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, on September 13.

PARIS (AFP) - Former French president Jacques Chirac was questioned Thursday by a judge looking into a party funding scam dating from his time as mayor of Paris, judicial officials said. Two months after leaving office, Chirac, 74, was interviewed as an "assisted witness" in the presence of his lawyer -- rather than as an ordinary witness -- which means that the possibility of criminal charges against him remains open, Le Monde newspaper reported. The interview with judge Alain Philibeaux took place at Chirac's office on the rue de Lille in Paris's Left Bank. In a signed article in Le...

Former French President Jacques Chirac was questioned for four hours by a magistrate probing a party funding scandal from his time as Paris mayor. Mr Chirac, 74, was interviewed as an assisted witness, which means he could eventually face criminal charges. The inquiry is looking into a fake jobs scheme that was used to finance Mr Chirac's conservative RPR party during his time as mayor in 1977-1995.

Judge questions Chirac on party scandal By PIERRE-ANTOINE SOUCHARD, Associated Press Writer 19 minutes ago A judge questioned former President Jacques Chirac for more than four hours Thursday in an investigation into a party financing scandal that dates back to his time as mayor of Paris, his lawyer said. It was the first time a French president has undergone questioning under such conditions and marks a sobering point in Chirac's four-decade political career. The party financing investigation is the most potent of a string of potential legal problems the 74-year-old Chirac faces now that he no longer has presidential immunity....