It's become fashionable to express a visceral hatred of all things French, to the point of silliness ("Liberty" fries, anyone?). Disagree with the French government if you will- and I think most of us do- but such visceral hatred is wasted effort. Frankly, the French don't much care what we think of them.
France, and their government, still see themselves as a surperpower, both economically and politically. While they may be unwilling to admit the degree to which their ability to compete on the world stage has eroded, they still wield a Big Stick- a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and the veto power that goes with it.
Jacques Chirac isn't looking for a ladder to climb down from his opposition to a military intervention in Iraq. In fact, he's offering George W. Bush a ladder to climb down from the brink of conflict. "If they were to ask me for my friendly advice, I would counsel against [war]," the French President said during an interview with TIME Saturday at his office in the Elysée Palace. If the reinforced inspection regime Chirac has proposed is taken up, and if — against experience and widespread expectation — it proves effective in disarming Saddam Hussein, Bush could claim a double victory: "Mr. Bush can say two things. First, 'Thanks to my intervention, the goal was obtained; it was our 150,000 soldiers who assured that Iraq has been disarmed,' and second, 'I achieved that without spilling any blood.' In the life of a statesman, that counts — no blood spilled."
Chirac's unsolicited counsel may smack of French pride, or just plain grandstanding, but he speaks with real weight. Chirac deliberately reappointed his gilded office at the Elysée Palace with the desk and furnishings first installed by his political mentor, General Charles de Gaulle, the embodiment of French grandeur. Like de Gaulle, Chirac is determined to put France back on the map in international affairs. And outside in the streets of Paris, as in dozens of other cities throughout the world, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators loudly affirmed their agreement with the French leader's contention that "The first consequence of war is death." A poll in last week's New York Times suggests that even a majority of Americans think the inspectors should be given more time.
There is one thing I would suggest that Americans keep in mind. France has much more direct experience in dealing with the toll war exacts on a country than we do. Much of WWII was, after all, fought on French soil. Yes, you can make the argument that but for US intervention that French schoolchildren would be speaking German, but WWII wasn't fought in our front yard.
I don't agree with the French position myself, but I also understand that they are under no obligation to support us. A French government standing on principle may seem like an oxymoron, but they believe they are doing the right thing, as do we. My only question is why are we wasting so much emotional energy on France? Like we can't do this without them??
