February 18, 2003
When last seen, Chirac was being pursued by a mob of angry Vilnius villagers...
Chirac Slammed After EU Unites to Warn Iraq
French President Jacques Chirac sparked outrage on Tuesday after a tirade against east European candidates who took a pro-American stance on Iraq marred an EU summit which united to send a final warning to Baghdad.
In a tougher than expected final statement the 15 EU leaders declared for the first time that war could be used as a last resort and warned Iraq that U.N. arms inspections could not go on indefinitely.
The 13 aspiring members were not admitted to Monday's emergency European Union summit on the Iraq crisis but they were invited to Brussels on Tuesday for a briefing from Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, holder of the rotating EU presidency.
Many were seething at Chirac's charges at a closing news conference on Monday night that their joint statements siding with Washington were "childish and irresponsible" and could damage their prospects of joining the bloc.
The French leader, who has led diplomatic resistance to what he sees as a U.S.-British rush to war, said the candidates had "missed a great opportunity to shut up."
He said they should have consulted the EU before issuing statements in support of the United States.
European Parliament leaders condemned the outburst when Simitis reported to deputies on the summit's outcome on Tuesday.
Liberal Democrat leader Graham Watson called it "gratuitous and condescending." Hans-Georg Poettering, leader of the center-right European People's Party, the largest grouping, warned against pitting eastern against western Europe, or the EU against the United States.
[...]Simitis, who faced much skepticism when he called the summit at short notice, hailed the EU's refound unity after weeks of squabbling over Iraq which cast grave doubt on its aspiration to build a common foreign and security policy.
[...]Chirac said: "The European mini-crisis has been overcome." [Sounds bitter, doesn't he? What a loser!--Jen]
But apart from igniting a new feud with the candidate countries, Chirac continued to bicker with British Prime Minister Tony Blair over the need for and timing of a second U.N. resolution that would declare Iraq had failed to cooperate with the inspectors and faced serious consequences.
[...]Blair said the issue was not a second resolution but the disarmament of Iraq.
[...]The EU statement also included an appeal to reinvigorate the peace process in the Middle East, demanding an end to violence and to the building of Israeli settlements in Palestinian areas.
Who are these guys kidding?
There's not going to be an end to violence in the Middle East until Arafat is dead and Saddam, too.
In fact, they just don't "get it:" it seems to escape the EU's notice that Iraq and "Palestine" are connected by Islamist terrorists, the same Islamist terrorists.
And the "peace process" as we know it, i.e. Oslo, is dead and has been dead at least since the Intifada began.
The Israeli people are not going to give up their lives (disguised as land claims) in exchange for "peace," which translates into getting closer into range for the Islamists.
The EU had best stick to that investigation of what Arafat did with the millions in "aid" they gave to the "Palestininan cause."
They need look no farther than Paris or Switzerland either.
Regarding this morning's session, Good work, Tony and New Europe.
Chirac, do what you know how to do best: Wave a white flag and surrender.
You're done here.
And you've got other fires to put out, as well:
Anti-French protests in Ivory Coast
Both government loyalists and rebels in Ivory Coast are turning on French mediators in the five-month crisis
Way to go, Jacques!
You've got *both* sides mad at you in a dispute you had no business getting into!
