Some Iraqis say they won’t forget how France has behaved, first in doing everything possible to keep Saddam in power, and now in stiffing them on aid. I think that Chirac has forgotten how long peoples’ memories can be in that part of the world.

And these folks are supposed to be experts on diplomacy?

I suspect that when it comes to having contracts honored and getting debt repaid, the French (and Germans) just went to the back of the bus. In fact, I hope that Iraq explicitly repudiates Saddam’s odious debt to France. I doubt if it would damage their ability to get loans anywhere else.