My Aisling

The French, Machiavelli, & the Art of Lying

French Foreign Minister de Villepin is such a child. He plays a high-stakes (one-sided) game of liar's poker with Colin Powell, and is proud of it. Speaks as if he is the sophisticated and educated one, and we are the illiterate bullies.

The French have never learned that the issue is not to win, but to effect justice. That requires consistency, honesty, and bravery. The French government lacks all three.

They are driven by their own economic goals. They will be ready to march into Haiti because that country has a despot as a ruler and is of little economic value to them. They will march in, they say, to remove the despot and restore order. In Iraq, they will turn a blind eye to the horrible conditions because they are making money off of the rulers. That is inconsistent.

They are not honest because, at least in this last situation, they publicly did not support a war in Iraq, but privately spoke directly with W and said they would support actions including force. Then they spun on a dime overnight. They lied.

Bravery? The French have never exhibited bravery. They fought to a standstill with Great Britain in the 1700s. They occupied silly little countries over the centuries. They cut and ran on the Palestinian people in the 1940s. The 1940s? Oh yeah, "Adolph, let me show you the wine cellar. We have some wonderful vintages. Rape our women? But of course, of course. We understand." Then they whined to us to pull them out.

A sad lot, the French. Let's watch how the weapons sales and oil-for-food program corruption develops. It should become much clearer how deep the depravity of the French runs.

Their final word? Taken from the linked article: "The problem with you Americans," de Villepin hectored a visiting United States senator in Paris last December, "is that you don't read Machiavelli." His meaning, the senator's aide told me, was crystal clear. De Villepin and Chirac had lied to the United States during the Iraq crisis, and if we didn't like it, we should get over it. That's how the "big boys" played politics.

Wow. Go fornicate thyself. How's that for literary references?