U.S. TROOPS MUST STAY, TALABANI SAYS

PARIS November 2, 2006 (IHT) - President Jalal Talabani said Thursday that American-led troops should remain in Iraq for at least two more years to give the country time to build up its security forces.

... "We need time," Talabani told a conference in Paris before meeting President Jacques Chirac. "I believe two to three years could be enough to build up our forces before we can say bye-bye and thanks to our friends."

Last week, Iraq's deputy prime minister, Barham Salih, urged the United States and Britain not to "cut and run."

... But some French diplomats voiced concern that two or three years seemed a long time.

What do these Iraqi guys know? Does Mr. Talabani not realize he is in France? Shut up.

CHIRAC WANTS "PERSPECTIVE" OF WITHDRAWAL FROM IRAQ

Paris November 2, 2006 (DPA) - It is important to fix a perspective for the retreat* of foreign troops from Iraq, French President Jacques Chirac was quoted as telling his Iraqi counterpart, Jalal Talabani, on Thursday in Paris. "Regarding the presence of the international force (in Iraq), he said that in French eyes it was important to fix a perspective of withdrawal," Chirac's spokesman, Jerome Bonnafont, said after the French president's talks with Talabani.

Well, France never listens to anyone unless France is talking. She just blows off Messrs. Talabani and Salih.

FRANCE ASKS WASHINGTON FOR IRAQ WITHDRAWAL TIMETABLE

November 15, 2006 (Paris Link) - Speaking on France 2 today, French Foreign Secretary Philippe Douste-Blazy** insisted on a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.

(See the post immediately below.)

Luckily everyone knows not to listen to France.

UPDATE: It is as if Mr. Bush has not heard a single bleat France has bleated.

WASHINGTON December 1, 2006 (Telegraph) - President George W Bush yesterday rebuffed calls for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, saying they would not leave until the Iraqi government could guarantee national security. ... The Joint Chiefs of Staff, the leaders of America's armed forces, are understood to oppose reducing troop numbers.

* This one word, by slip or intent, perfectly characterizes what those insisting on the precipitate withdrawal of coalition forces, most especially American forces, want most -- an American defeat. If the defeatists win the day, expect to see the lexical adjustment general throughout the media. Suddenly calls for "withdrawal" will become glee at "retreat". That Iraq is lost, that the middle east goes to hell -- those are bonuses. More to blame on America.

** The dimmest bulb in the dark Chirac marquee™.

PFFT (What is this?): Deaf French diplomacy 5 | Rayonnement français 0