Because it bears remembering.

SPOT-ON
If Only The French Were As Perspicacious At Reading Iran

US SCEPTICAL OVER EUROPE’S APPROACH TO IRAN

PARIS August 5, 2005 (AFP) - The United States has "enormous scepticism" over Europe's approach to Iran's nuclear programme, even if it has publicly backed the efforts, a French diplomat [briefing journalists on condition of anonymity] said Friday.

"That made our job easier and allowed us to show the Iranians that we had not a backing of the Americans but an understanding of the task," the diplomat said.

"That hasn't stopped the Americans continuing to watch us with deep scepticism. We don't consult them as such, but we are telling the Americans what direction we're going in without providing details on all of our positions," he said.

To our anonymous French diplomat we say, Congratulations! Donkey.

FRANCE: IRAN'S OFFER TO START TALKS OVER NUKES UNSATISFACTORY

August 25, 2006 (Haaretz) - French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy* said on Friday that an Iranian offer to start talks over Tehran's nuclear program was unsatisfactory.

"For the moment it is not satisfactory," he said in a radio interview.

"But the worst thing would be to escalate into a confrontation with Iran on the one hand, and the Muslim world with Iran, and the West. That would be the clash of the civilisations that France today is practically alone in trying to avoid."

Lonely France staving off the clash of civilizations! What would the world do without lonely France?

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Friday he sees a need for further talks with Iran over its nuclear program following Tehran's reply to an incentive package made by world powers.

"(The reply) touches on many different elements, different from the ones that we had proposed. For that reason we will have to hold a dialogue session ... or a conversation with the ... Iranians to improve upon some of the expressions and meanings of the subject matter treated in its document," he told Spain's RNE state radio.

Will the clever Europeans ever stumble onto the clever Iranians? It is embarrassing -- to say nothing of exhausting** -- to recount the history of a European call for talks followed by an Iranian slap-down followed by a call for talks followed by talks followed by the flimsy agreement possible or a mere possiblity of a flimsy agreement followed by Iran renouncing said agreement followed by a European call for talks...da capo. The Iranians are happy to play this game all day, everyday, until they have sufficient stores of weaponizable uranium, at which point they will gladly acknowledge duping the Europeans.

To our sandbagging European friends we say, Congratulations! Donkeys.

* The dimmest bulb in the dark Chirac marquee™.

** See our snowballing chronicle of inept EU/French diplomacy and the emergence of the Iranian nuclear state here (11.23.04), here (11.30.04), here (08.08.05), here (08.08.05), here (08.12.05), here (08.14.05), here (09.19.05), here (10.30.05), here (01.25.06), here (02.15.06), here (02.22.06), here (03.05.06), here (03.14.06), here (04.14.06), here (04.15.06), here (04.19.06), here (04.25.06), here (08.01.06), here (08.04.06), and here (08.04.06).

PFFT (What is this?): France saving civilization, all in a day's work 0 | Nuclear-armed Iran 4¾ | Rayonnement français 0