CHIRAC'S CHUTZPAH

France's arrogance never ceases to amaze. Now the Frogs are apparently angling to scarf some big post-war business in Iraq, once our blood and the blood of our allies has been shed to secure Iraq's freedom from a regime Chirac tried desperately to save. From us. Of all the offensive, incendiary things in the linked story, this quote from a French official stood out as particarly noxious:

"I don't see how American executives can work when their lives will be at risk," he said. "There will be such hatred toward Americans."

This guy might want to hold off on that assessment. As I write this, US and British troops are assisting a popular uprising against Saddam in Basra. As I write this, the millions of Iraqis who have suffered under Saddam's murderous yoke since 1979 are slowly but grindindly being liberated by Americans and our allies. The face of Iraq's liberator will be that of a young Marine sporting an expert marksman's insignia and proudly displaying Old Glory while demolishing Saddam's monuments to his own ego. That face will speak English, and offer much-needed food and comfort to a population emerging from a concentration camp the size of California. Because of Chirac's insane intransigence and continued hostility to America, French speakers in post-war Iraq will probably find great resistance to anything they want to do. And hopefully the Bush administration will see fit to keep the French influence out of Iraq for as long as possible. We don't need another Algeria.

France's over-reach in the weeks leading up to the war will reverberate in Iraq, in Europe and much of the world for decades to come. Chirac has probably led his country over a diplomatic cliff.