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| Chirac gets tough? |
Itsdb |
01/20/06 |
Chirac Nuclear Comments Draw Ire in Europe
By JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press Writer
PARIS (AP) -- President Jacques Chirac drew scorching criticism in Europe on Friday for suggesting France would consider a nuclear response to state-sponsored terrorism.
Chirac's headline-grabbing comments in a speech Thursday sent a warning to countries like Iran and sought to nip in the bud domestic debate about whether deeply indebted France still needs its expensive nuclear deterrent in the post-Cold War world.
The French leader, with his second and probably final term nearing its end, laid out an updated doctrine for France's military might for the 21st century amid the threat of terrorism.
In the broad address, Chirac warned unspecified "leaders of states that would use terrorist means against us" that they could face "a firm and fitting response." Analysts and presidential aides said he had no specific country in mind, but newspaper editorialists widely read them to be directed at Iran, and possibly North Korea.
Chirac seemed to draw little initial support abroad for his call for the European Union to pool its deterrent forces "in the perspective of a strong Europe."
The volume of criticism could even set back that hope.
"Jacques Chirac is an idiot," chided Belgian daily De Morgen in an editorial. "He lives in a time where France is no longer a world power, but he's still acting as if prolonging a Napoleonic dynasty."
Spain's El Pais called the speech "radical and dangerous."
Many faulted the timing. France, Britain and Germany have been seeking guarantees that Iran will not develop nukes, and have taken key steps toward possible U.N. sanctions against Tehran.
"Such saber rattling in the face of the current crisis over Iran's atomic weapons program is basically a false signal," said Xanthe Hall of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War in Berlin.
If Chirac ends his tenure as president next year, he will have left an indelible mark on France's nuclear deterrent. Shortly after winning the presidency in 1995, he drew international fury by ordering France's final nuclear tests in the South Pacific.
Conservative Milan daily Il Giornale suggested the "pacifist sympathies" for Chirac over his opposition to the U.S.-led Iraq war had worn off.
France's nuclear arsenal, which analysts estimate at some 300 warheads mostly deployed on submarines, is viewed as a deterrent tool and is not intended for a battle situation.
Observers saw a political pitch at home by Chirac: activist groups and even military circles have questioned the euro3 billion-plus ($3.62 billion) annual cost to keep up France's nuclear arsenal.
But at home, too, the speech garnered criticism.
"Another pearl in the words of Chirac - but this one is a bit dramatic and provocative," said Revolutionary Communist League party leader Alain Krivine, a longtime critic of the conservative Chirac, on French TV. "It's a completely irresponsible declaration."
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Was Chirac warning Iran & Syria, warning the US, just being an idiot - or all three? |
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