[Culturechat] French Foreign Minister Villepin refuses to say which side he supports

[WesTexas@aol.com]

Villepin refuses to say which side he supports
By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor 
(Filed: 28/03/2003) 
 
Full Article at:  
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/03/28/wfra28.xml&sSh

eet=/news/2003/03/28/ixnewstop.html

Excerpts Follow:  

France's attempt to repair relations with America and Britain over Iraq 
backfired yesterday when Dominique de Villepin, their foreign minister, 
refused to say which side he supported.

During a speech in London, M de Villepin said he hoped for "a swift 
conclusion with the minimum possible number of casualties".

But asked by The Telegraph whether he hoped American and British forces would 
win the military campaign to remove Saddam Hussein, he replied angrily: "I'm 
not going to answer. You have not been listening carefully to what I said 
before. You already have the answer."

Moreover M de Villepin did himself few favours with Washington when, 
recalling the "bleakest time in our history" during the Second World War, he 
extolled Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle but left out Franklin D 
Roosevelt's role in the liberation of France.

Michael Ancram, shadow foreign affairs spokesman, said: "It is beyond belief 
that the French foreign minister was unable to bring himself to look forward 
to a coalition victory and the liberation of the people of Iraq from the 
tyranny and oppression.

Embarrassed French officials tried to salvage the situation by pointing out 
that, on French television on Monday, M de Villepin said: "Clearly, we hope 
the US will win this war quickly."