France is trying its best ... The British are outraged

[Libaax-Sankataabte]

(scotsman.com) -- RELATIONS between Britain and France reached breaking point yesterday as Jacques Chirac refused to sanction an Anglo-US deal on Iraq and clashed with Tony Blair on reform of the European Union.

 

The unseemly diplomatic row between the two erupted after the French leader reacted furiously when Mr Blair opposed his plans to delay the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

 

The collapse in cross-Channel relations threatened to spill into a wider diplomatic confrontation as France continued to oppose British and US demands for the United Nations Security Council to accept a new resolution on Iraq.

 

Dominique de Villepin, the French foreign minister, repeated his country’s insistence it would not agree to any UN mandate that gave the US the automatic right to military action should Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi leader, breach the new terms.

 

"We reject any clause on automatic recourse to force because recourse to force can only be the last resort," he said.

 

The continued French intransigence came despite increased pressure from George Bush, the US president, and Mr Blair for the Security Council to reach an agreement before the end of the week.

 

Campaigning in America, President Bush said Saddam "has made the United Nations look foolish".

 

He added: "Either the United Nations will do its duty to disarm Saddam Hussein, or Saddam Hussein will disarm himself.

 

"In either case, if [uN nations] refuse to act - in the name of peace, in the name of a security tomorrow, in the name of freedom - the United States will lead a coalition and disarm him."

 

The tough rhetoric was echoed on this side of the Atlantic, with Mr Blair’s official spokesman saying Britain was calling on the security council to "bring matters to a head" quickly.

 

He said: "Obviously this has been under discussion now since the middle of September, and given that time scale, it is coming to the stage where we will have to decide whether this is going to be resolved through the UN or not."

 

In the Commons, Mr Blair remained optimistic a UN deal could still be reached. "We are working hard for agreement on the terms of a tough new Security Council resolution," he said, adding that should Iraq breach the terms then " action must follow".

 

Downing Street played down the breakdown in Anglo-French relations had jeopardised the chances of reaching an agreement in New York.

 

However, personal tensions between Mr Blair and the French President are understood to have reached such a low that an Anglo-French summit planned before Christmas has been put on hold.

 

Disagreements between the two leaders followed a stand-up row at the EU summit in Brussels last weekend during which Mr Chirac is reported to have walked up to Mr Blair and launched a direct personal attack in the presence of other EU heads of government.

 

The Conservative Party seized on the troubled relationship as proof that Mr Blair’s claim to be at the heart of Europe rang increasingly hollow.

 

Mr Blair was reportedly furious at the way Mr Chirac had attempted to hijack the summit to railroad through a pre-arranged deal with Germany to postpone indefinitely any CAP reform. There was also anger that the French president had then attempted to link any compromise on the issue to the question of Britain’s rebate.

 

Most diplomats believe the deal presented by France and Germany on the eve of the summit was a diplomatic coup for Chirac which caught Mr Blair unawares. However, there are advantages for both leaders to talk up their positions.

 

http://www.news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1201962002

[Baashi]

LST,

Interesting...France vs. Anglo-American!

France has no chance even with its Euro coalition or Franco-German coalition!...at the end of the day they will iron out these minor differences and eventually they will implement the so called the new world order!

 

Get this: WTO, IMF, and World Bank have government officials(West) and former CEO's sitting its board and its jurisdiction is global in nature! china is being stalked on its human rights record as prerequisite of its admission to this exclussive club. Anything they decide is being potrayed as something that international community have deliberated on. Do u know that almost all the plants that have any medicinal value are owned(patented) by the mega-multinational companies...we r talking about plants like "cadey"! Further more they can enforce it all these laws and those who question its legitimacy will be called as rogue nations and they will be simply in violation of international law and the civilized world should deal with them. Sound fimiliar!

Phew!..there I vent it out!

[jaaluut]

Interesting Libaax, but i think it's a show put forth by the west. the anglo and the french are the same imperialists and have the same agenda and frame of thought as their counter-part in russia,and usa. as baashi said these blood suckers will work it out all their differences and destroy iraq, to rebuild it and place their puppetry in baghdad.

[nuune]

not just this issue is france against the Anglo-American,but france is even opposed the whole system of America whether it is international policy or even economy and so on,even recently some french were protesting against the festival of Hallooween!!

 

[Section6er]

Men! French are sour loosers who cant except the fact that they are no longer important in the world scene. The frenchies couldnt stop the german twice from running thru they country only to be rescued by US and UK.

 

The french do such things to try to show the world that they are still needed when it comes to world policies. Nobody cares what they have to say cuz they are no longer credible.

 

FRANCE YOU ARE NO LONGER A WORLD POWER.