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French lead challenge to U.S. on Iraq
By Bill Schneider
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- What is it with the French? Why can't they get with the program? Maybe it's because they have their own program. Americans may not like it, but it works for them. It even gets them "le jeu politique de la semaine" [the Political Play of the Week.] The French have this special talent for driving Americans crazy. The United States gives them their own Disneyland, and what do the French do? Protest. A Frenchman goes to jail for attacking a McDonald's, and what do his countrymen do? Protest. The Bush administration tries to build a coalition to take away Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, and what do the French do? Protest. This week, French President Jacques Chirac threatened to veto a new U.N. resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq. "France would have no choice but to oppose a U.S.-led war with Iraq," Chirac said. This time, Americans have had enough. No more French wine! No more French fries! Of course, the Germans oppose U.S. policy in Iraq just as much as the French do. But you don't hear many anti-German jokes. "With all due respect, I think President Bush is handling this situation all wrong. What Bush should do is send someone the French really respect, like Jerry Lewis," Jay Leno said Tuesday on an episode of "The Tonight Show." "Crossfire" host Tucker Carlson read an e-mail from a viewer who had some thoughts on the issue: "I think it's useful to remember the words of a great American philosopher, Frank Zappa. 'There is no hell. There is only France." Could it be the French are up to something? Naturellement. They want to be the leading power in the new united Europe. A Europe united, not by anti-fascism or anti-communism, but by anti-Americanism -- a force now rampant in Western Europe. "This is a moment of glory for France. They are right now the center of attention in Europe, around the world. They're the center of a peace movement," Gov. Bill Richardson, a New Mexico Democrat, said Tuesday. This week, Chirac warned the new democracies of Eastern Europe that if they want to be part of the new Europe, they'd better get with the anti-American program. British Prime Minister Tony Blair isn't getting with the anti-American program. And look what's happening to him. Blair's job rating in the United Kingdom has fallen to 35 percent. What about Chirac? He's at 62.
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