A "young Chirac"?

I hope I won't break anyone's heart, but I'm afraid France's best hope is all hot air.

Nicolas Sarkozy was speaking (lecturing?) at Columbia University yesterday, and his speech only confirmed my distrust towards him.

"France loves the United States" but has "a different position regarding Iraq" that doesn't question the friendship between two countries that "belong to the camp of democracies" against terrorism, Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy declared on Monday in New York.

"If I'm here, that's because France loves the United States. We love the United States, and you should not see the world as hostile to the United States," Sarkozy declared while answering questions from American students at NY Columbia University.

"The dream of French families is that their children can go to American universities. When we go to the movies, it's to watch American movies. When we listen to the radio, we listen to American music. When our children learn a foreign language, it's English," he claimed.

In a recent French poll regarding the French and the American presidential election, when asked "in general, when you think about the United States, you are rather..." the answers were:
Admirative - 6%
Kind - 11%
Indifferent - 14%
Worried - 33%
Critical - 36%

So much for admiration, Nicolas.

When asked whether, in different fields, they'd like the US to have more or less influence, they answered:
- in culture (movies, TV, music), 25% wanted the US to have more influence against 68% who wanted them to have less influence,
- in the economy, 17% against 79%,
- regarding defense and intervention in the world, 16% against 80%.

Does Mr. Sarkozy really think Americans are stupid? I know, I know, it's Columbia University, so they probably are leaning towards France in their majority.

The world admires you, the world respects you. But sometimes the world is wondering if you care about us who are not Americans," he added.

No, they don't care. That's the reason why they don't topple dictatorships. That's the reason why they didn't save France several times. That's the reason why - and it's a well-known fact - they never ever send humanitarian or financial aid anywhere. No Americans don't care. That's very French, you see. Remember that: whatever you will do, it will never be enough for your "friends" the French.

"We disagreed over Iraq, it's part of our history. Everybody has the right to have their position. Don't think you have adversaries in France; you have friends, and accept that friends do not agree with you," he added.

"Understand one thing: we were thrown out of Algeria less than 50 years ago. Is there a country, at any time in history, that was able to stay for long in a country that wasn't its country, only by force? No. We, the French, lived this in Algeria and in Dien Bien Phu. Don't be mad at us because we remember what happened to us," the Minister insisted.

Wait a minute: what happened to "us"? What happened to the French empire. What happened in the French colonies. Iraq is not and will not become an American colony. That's the difference between the United States and France. They are not in Iraq to stay. On the other hand the French, more than 40 years after Algeria regained its independence, are still nostalgic about the time when it was a colony.

When an American soldier dies in Iraq, the French are deeply moved, as if he was French, Italian, Polish or Spanish," he claimed.

Except that Italian, Polish and Spanish troops did die in Iraq.

And we know that your failure would also be the failure of democracies. We have no soldier in Iraq, but right now as I'm talking, two French are held hostage," he continued.

Thanks for being the bird of ill omen. We want to believe the US won't fail in Iraq - partly because it is indeed in the interest of all democracies - although it certainly won't be thanks to America's "friends" in France. As for the two French hostages... I thought the Iraqi government had offered to help? That's too bad the French government almost showed them the finger because they were so certain they'd manage the situation just fine.

You were martyred in New York, before Madrid. Paris also had its dead. We too are in the camp of democracy and potential victims of terrorism," he insisted.

In the future, a solution will have to be found in Iraq. According to us, it will have to be through the international community.

There was an argument between our two countries. But we need die-hard supporters of the French-American friendship to overcome trials that only are a moment in the history of our two countries and that doesn't change the friendship between people," he explained.

How easy is that? Okay. We, the French, forget that we disagreed with you and tried to bribe nations to block you at the UN. Quelle noblesse d'âme, vraiment ! Now won't you forget and forgive too?

How easy?