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03/16/2004: "Chirac 3/16/2003"

As I was researching another linkless Neal Boortz item (this one about an alleged "Al Qaeda document which set forth a plan to get Spain to pull its troops out of Iraq"; I was unable to find evidence of such a document), I ran across a Christiane Amanpour interview with French President Jacques Chirac. Here are some snippets:

AMANPOUR: What do you realistically think will come out of this summit [between the US, Spain, and Great Britain]?
CHIRAC: I can't [predict] the result of the summit. I hope that reason will prevail and that this effective system, the system that is bringing us to the common goal that we have, i.e. disarmament of Iraq; the elimination and destruction of the weapons of mass destruction ... I hope that all this can be done through inspections. Indeed, inspections have proven their effectiveness to reach this goal.
...
...weapons are being destroyed every day. Of course, we haven't reached the full goal yet....

Do I believe my eyes? I thought Saddam did not have any WMDs!?! Did President Bush deceive him too?

AMANPOUR: Do you believe that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction; for instance, chemical or biological weapons?

CHIRAC: Well, I don't know. I have no evidence to support that. But what we can say today, listening to what [International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed] ElBaradei is saying and his expert team, it seems that there are no nuclear weapons or no nuclear programs that would lead to the construction of nuclear weapons. That is something that the inspectors seem to be sure of.

As for weapons of mass destruction, bacteriological, biological, chemical, we don't know. And that is precisely what the inspectors' mandate is all about. They have to go with their work to find these weapon if there are any and then destroy them. And the inspectors are telling us that they can do that work. So when at one point or another they tell us that they can't or can't anymore go on doing so, then we will have to consider other options, including war. But it just isn't the case today.

So rushing into war, rushing into battle today is clearly disproportionate and inadequate given our goals. As I said, that goal is to disarm Iraq, and everybody agrees on that.

I give him credit, he covered himself.

AMANPOUR: If it should come to a point where more allied troops are needed, would France consider sending troops?

CHIRAC: It isn't a topical issue, really.

Not topical? Did he mean to say not pleasant?

AMANPOUR: You have studied in the United States, you have worked briefly in the United States. You profess to love the United States. As I said, many Americans feel betrayed [by France, thus "Freedom Fries" etc]. Do you have anything to say in English, which I know you speak, to Americans tonight?

CHIRAC: ...I think that the two problems that mankind has to deal with today at the beginning of the 21st century have to be given very clear consideration. .... We have indeed to refuse and reject confrontations, useless confrontations. .... The second issue, ... is the serious and soon-to-be irreversible depletion of our planet's resources....

That is what I want to tell the American people. That we have to work together on these issues to bring about peace, dialogue and respect for one another across the world, and at the same time make sure that we have a sustainable use of our planet's resources so that our children can also benefit from it and live in serenity.

Some people are glad we did not listen to the French President. Others hope we continue to ignore him.

AMANPOUR: Just one last question so that I fully understand here. At one point you said the presence of so many troops is what has brought him this far -- and it is further than where he has been for many years. So why didn't you send troops to join that threat, and perhaps this would have been over much quicker?

CHIRAC: Once again, I think that, given the current situation, the Americans do not need any assistance. Those who can help, the British, for instanced, are just making an additional contribution....

Ah, so that's why we had to go 'alone'.