Pave: The Republic's Own Sweet Time

Le jour 160 de Sarko

Nous appartenons à une grande Nation, par son Histoire, mais aussi par les principes sur lesquels elle est fondée. Une Nation qui rayonne dans le monde.

[We belong to a great Nation, by its History, but also by the principles on which it is founded. A Nation that shines in the world.]

Then-Jack, Now Ex-Jack,
reminding all why France is the go-to exemplar
PALAIS DE L'ÉLYSÉE lundi 14 novembre 2005

In 1999 the great nation of France, in the person of Then-Jack, Now Ex-Jack, discovered she had fought a war with Algerian nationalists some 54 years earlier. Back in the day Not-Yet-Jack had himself fought in this war, giving him an enormous clue. Later that year euphemisms such as "opérations de maintien de l’ordre" and "événements d'Algérie" were officially replaced with the more-to-the-point "guerre" (la loi du 18 octobre 1999).

FRANCE PLAYS DOWN ALGERIAN 'GENOCIDE' COMMENTS

PARIS May 9, 2006 (AFP) - France on Tuesday played down a stinging attack by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, after he repeated claims that France's colonisation of the north African country had been "genocidal".

In a declaration read at the site of the massacre in Guelma, eastern Algeria, Bouteflika described France's colonisation of his country, which it ruled from 1830 to 1962, as "long, brutal, genocidal".

"We understand, from these statements, that there is a shared will to move forward and to strengthen bilateral relations," said [French foreign] ministry spokesman Denis Simonneau.

Yes. Well. [Pause.] Moving forward. France ended hostilities with Algerian nationalists on March 19, 1962. Sixteen thousand two hundred eighty-seven days later, the great nation of France remembers in the course of her recently discovered war she had extensively mined the Algerian border:

FRANCE TELLS ALGERIA LOCATION OF LANDMINES

ALGIERS October 21, 2007 (Reuters) - France, keen to boost relations with former colony Algeria, has handed the north African country details of where its forces laid millions of landmines half a century ago, the French embassy said.

Anti-personnel mines were planted on the country's eastern and western borders during Algeria's war of independence to prevent Algerian fighters from attacking the French colonial army from bases in Morocco and Tunisia.

Algerian newspapers regularly report deaths and injuries, particularly of shepherds and children, who inadvertently set off independence war-era landmines.

According to Algiers, which has long demanded that France hand over the minefield plans, some three million anti-personnel mines were planted by France on its land. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has repeatedly called on France to apologise for crimes committed during the colonial era to help improve bilateral ties with his nation of 33 million. French authorities have responded by urging "mutual respect" and saying it was up to historians to write history.

Plans of mines laid between 1956 and 1959 were handed over [October 20] by French armed forces chief General Jean-Louis Georgelin, who is currently visiting Algeria, a French embassy statement said.

"Nicolas Sarkozy wants to remove hurdles that hamper Algerian-French relations," influential daily El Watan said. The same daily published a cartoon showing an Algerian victim of a landmine saying "they could have done this 45 years ago."

Sarko deserves a clap. But what does Then-Jack, Now Ex-Jack, le combattant de la paix -- Papa Afrique lui-même -- who had 12 years to release this information, deserve? Every year France delayed the maps have become less helpful because the mines can be shifted by rain or wind. Every year France delayed the clearing operations have become more expensive because of shifts and mantling sand.

PFFT (What is this?): French tin ear diplomacy 4 | Inexcusable delay 5 | Rayonnement français 0 (There is no lower ranking.)