In the current diplomatic haze that surrounds the Iraq Follies, France is not onside, that much is clear. Some American congressfolks have demanded changes to the Congressional Cafeteria to list “Freedom” fries, and “Freedom” toast rather than French fries and French toast in response to France’s intractability on the international front.
The deal with France goes back centuries. Britain and France have never really liked each other and this slopped into the American Revolutionary War; France siding with the Republicans, simply because it would piss off Britain.
I don’t mean to suggest that France marches to the beat of a different drummer at all times, but if you look, historically, it certainly seems that way. They don’t play well with the European Economic Community standards, unless it is in their interests. They don’t play well with International Trade, unless it is in their interests. They don’t even play well with the usual rules of Industrial Activity, having been nailed more than once for industrial espionage offshore.
Internally, Marselleians hate the Provençale, The Provençale hate the Brittany, The Brittany hate the Lyonnais, and everyone hates the Parisians, who hate everyone else in France, while everyone hates the Government, as the Government treats all citizens with barely constrained disgust that is only reserved for Union members. Some days it seems that the only thing that France agrees on is sex and food.
As noted earlier, France is not keen on an Iraq invasion, simply because the US will find all kinds of “Made in France” labels on stuff used to produce weapons, fertilizer, chemicals and infrastructure. This will cause some deep embarrassment in France, which will then begin the finger-pointing internally as to who violated the UN sanctions. This cuts into the time for eating and copulating, with the attendant going to inquiries, filing briefs, sitting in meetings and discussing the ‘situation’.
We really don’t have to worry about France. Ignore them and let them self-destruct internally, as this is their natural state of uproar and upset. France’s opinion internationally, has as much impact as that of Absurdistan or Upper Revolta, as the rest of the diplomatic community gets down to work.
The French role in this is to bring up tangential issues and to whine that they are being ignored. Remember that they couldn’t organize a good bowel movement without a six-year discussion, so by the time we’ve come and gone in Iraq the French will still be having an argument about the type of paper being used to write a grumpy note to the UN.
Call’em Freedom Fries, or Freedom Toast and it doesn’t amount to anything. France is France and it marches to a special beat that only it can hear.
RoadDave 