Craig Stapleton, the American ambassador to France, makes kissy-kissy, perhaps in the fond hope he might park on the rue Saint-Florentin without having his tires slashed.

FRANCO-US 'MISUNDERSTANDING' IS OVER

PARIS September 19, 2005 (AFP) - "There was a misunderstanding with France and the French," Craig Stapleton told Le Journal du Dimanche in remarks published in French, adding that he was "sure that all that is behind us."

We could not locate these remarks on the official embassy site.

This is no "misunderstanding". Nor this. Nor this. And countless instances of French perfidy, attitude, and empty swagger constitute the most unmistakable of understandings of France and the French.

Réveillez, M. l'ambassadeur.

PFFT (What is this?): Dreamy diplomacy 4 | Rayonnement français 2