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French president’s actions come as no surprise
What does French President Jacques Chirac have to show for criticizing the United States and its supporters on war-fighting approaches to resolving the Iraq situation?

Some would say it’s all negative — irritating the U.S. government, dividing NATO and straining European unity.

But the flip side also deserves consideration.

Chirac’s popularity, according to French polls, has soared. Backers laud him for courage in the face of the Bush administration’s attempts to muscle its way through the United Nations Security Council.

More important, though, Chirac has reasserted a traditional French role of independent thinking and acting on the international stage. In particular, he aims to address the unprecedented power the United States has amassed and the imperial impulses that easily accompany it.

Of course, it would be disingenuous to suggest that Chirac’s position derives purely from noble intentions. He clearly has French national interests in mind.

France has economic interests in Iraq that renewed conflict would disrupt.
His actions reveal a display of the very behavior he finds objectionable on the part of the United States.

The United States hasn’t heard the final word on this issue from France. Chirac wants more from the Bush administration and it should deliver, not merely to satisfy the French president but to clarify the issues for all.

John C. Bersia is a columnist for The Orlando Sentinel. This column was distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.