FRANCE HOPES ZARQAWI DEATH WILL CUT IRAQ VIOLENCE

PARIS June 8, 2006 (AFP) - The French foreign ministry said it had "taken note" of the announcement by Iraqi and US authorities that Zarqawi — one of the world's most wanted men — had been killed in an airstrike near Baghdad.

Paris hopes that "violence will diminish in Iraq and hopes for a return of stability and security in the country, within the framework of full sovereignty," said ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei.*

As other foreign ministers offer congratulations (and outright joy), how comforting to be informed by a French functionary that France has "taken note". It seemed only yesterday that France was arguing for a place at the "full sovereignty" table for Mr. Zarqawi and his pals. But this is France. And that was yesterday. Or was it the day before yesterday?

And yet, France, a country of ever diminishing importance, can still cast her mysterious baleful spell over Foggy Bottom.

BUSH TURNED DOWN CHANCES TO KILL ZARQAWI: EX-CIA SPY

May 1, 2006 (ABC [Australian Broadcasting Corporation]) - Mike Scheuer headed the CIA's bin Laden unit for six years before resigning in 2004. He has told the ABC's Four Corners program the Bush administration had Zarqawi in its sights almost every day for a year. He says a plan to destroy Zarqawi's training camp in Kurdistan was abandoned for diplomatic reasons.

"The reasons the intelligence service got for not shooting Zarqawi was simply that the President and the National Security Council decided it was more important not to give the Europeans the impression we were gunslingers," he said.

"Mr Bush had Mr Zarqawi in his sights for almost every day for a year before the invasion of Iraq and he didn't shoot because they were wining and dining the French in an effort to get them to assist us in the invasion of Iraq."

Yes, well, the French are always up for a free meal. And they will say just about anything if you pick up the tab.

* Once upon a time the hapless M. Mattei was the French Health Minister. That was before 14,800+ largely preventable deaths of elderly French on his watch. At the time M. Mattei said he personally "did not have the feeling of having made a mistake" during the disaster. And now, dear reader, now he is a colorless minion of the foreign ministry. Political careers are rarely ruined in France, one just trades washroom keys.

[This footnote is in error, mistaking Jean-Baptiste Mattéi, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry, with Jean-François Mattéi, the former health minister during the French heat deaths crisis of 2003. Pave apologizes for the error.]

PFFT (What is this?): Importance of note taken 0 | Rayonnement français 0

I fail to see a link between the statement, made by French foreign minister Philippe DOUSTE-BLAZY, Which was very "diplomatic", possibly even sarcastic , about ZARQAWI's death in Iraq and the heatwave that killed so many elderlies in France due to the alledged negligence of the "hapless" M. MATTEI.

If you could, Damian, enlighten us a bit more about this one, that would be nice, thanks.

M. FFF,

First, the statement as given was from the foreign ministry by its spokeman, M. Mattei. M. Douste-Blasy did not here comment directly (nor do your links point to statements by M. Douste-Blazy regarding Mr. Zarqawi). When a spokesperson carries the message, it signals the diminished importance conferred by the ministry.

Second, apparently you are not familiar with the function of a footnote: Something related to but of lesser importance than a larger work or occurrence. As the French are apt to forget and a wider public not know, our footnote resurrects M. Mattei from the obscurity of his current demotion and identifies him as what passes for minister-caliber in France.

There. We are always happy to enlighten the careless French skimmer.

DGB

Bonjour,

IRAN; LE QUINCAILLER S' ALIGNE SUR LA FRANCE !!!

Bush est en perdition totale !
Il y a à peine un mois encore l' Iran était un "rogue state" , "evil axis" et tutti quanti...

Surprise : LE QUINCAILLER vire à 180° et se met à la remorque des positions de la France dans cette affaire...
Cela va vraiment très mal au Proche-Orient , la diplomatie US ne sait plus à quel saint se vouer ,son échec est total.
La France l' avait prévenu .
Enfin ,il faut être abruti comme le QUINCAILLER pour croire que la mort de Zarkaoui est une victoire...
Ce faisant Bush , soit disant le chef du plus puissant Etat au Monde se met au niveau du seul problème qu ' il sait régler:éliminer une cruelle petite frappe islamique.

Good luck to ? your country in Irak !

So Zarqawi was in Kurdistan before the invasion….Seems to me there where quite a few folks who said that al Qaeda was not affiliated with Iraq.

Well, looks like Bush was correct.