Mrs. Edge
Bono's Belly Dancing Friend
J'accuse! Paris blasts White House over `lies'
Bush officials blamed for leaking stories Embassy decries `ugly, false' stories on links to Saddam
TIM HARPER
WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON?Diplomacy be damned ? the French have had enough.
In a charge that goes well beyond any Parisian pique over "freedom fries" or calls to boycott their wines, the French embassy here hand-delivered a letter to the White House yesterday, accusing the Bush administration of engaging in a smear campaign by leaking baseless charges about the country to friendly, usually conservative media outlets.
It cited eight specific stories, dating back to last September, accusing the French government of everything from selling Iraq high-precision switches used in detonating nuclear weapons to helping spirit out wanted members of the Saddam Hussein regime by providing them with French passports.
"So many lies have been published in the neo-conservative press in this country we felt it was time to act," said an embassy official who asked not to be named.
The embassy letter calls them "ugly and false attempts" to link France to the Saddam regime.
"What is the purpose of these false accusations against France?" Ambassador Jean-David Levitte asked.
The move was the latest ? and most extraordinary ? manoeuvre in an ongoing battle between the countries since France opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
"It is extraordinary," said Jeremy Shapiro, an expert in U.S.-French relations at the Washington-based Brookings Institution. "But then those stories are extraordinary."
All nations that sat out the war, including Germany, Mexico, Canada and others, have received some type of snub or punishment from U.S. President George W. Bush, but France leads the lists of supposed friends who have incurred Washington's wrath.
The French embassy confirmed yesterday American tourism is down in France.
As the two countries faced off over Iraq in the U.N. Security Council, French fries and French toast were renamed in U.S. eateries and protesters brought dogs to pro-war demonstrations with signs reading "No French in my poodle." A new slur on the streets here is to suggest something was "very French of you."
The embassy broadside yesterday comes only two weeks before Bush is to travel to France for the summit of leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations and three days before a scheduled visit to D-Day beaches in France by U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow.
"The surprising thing is that they tell you this is a democracy here, blah, blah, blah," the French embassy official told the Star. "But the moment you take another opinion on something they call you a traitor.
"We are not naive. We know they will immediately deny it."
And so they did.
Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he knew of no such campaign, especially out of the Pentagon. He said it is only natural the U.S. would want to work with countries that were helpful in Iraq or Afghanistan.
"I suspect you're going to see that as a pattern because those are the people you're working with," he said. "But it's not a matter that you're anti-something. It's that ... you want to look forward and be engaged with people that you're likely to be doing things with."
As he spoke, the Pentagon cut back on the number of personnel and aircraft it is sending to the prestigious Paris Air Show next month, ordering no one above the rank of colonel could attend, cutting the number of U.S. planes on display from 13 to six, and ordering them to be grounded, not participating in any aerial displays.
Two U.S. officials said the Bush administration felt it would appear unseemly for officers to be "wining and dining" and "living the good life" in Paris while troops are in danger in Iraq, Associated Press reports.
White House spokesperson Scott McClellan said a charge of an organized campaign "has no basis in fact." He referred reporters at the daily White House briefing to recent comments by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who said "the United States and France, we've been in marriage counselling for 225 years."
The French believe the final hit came in a Washington Times story last week that quoted "an anonymous American intelligence source" as saying fleeing Iraqi leaders had been provided French passports by Paris.
Rumsfeld let the story hang at his briefing that day, suggesting reporters call the French embassy, but noting "France has historically had a very close relationship with Iraq."
That type of "ambiguity" only further enraged the French, the embassy official said.
"I think they've got a case that there are some people within the U.S. government who are spreading what can best be called rumours about France," Shapiro said.
"There have a been a spate of stories quoting `senior government officials' or `senior intelligence officials. ' ... They leave an impression, at least a taste of French perfidy, but nobody picks them up."
Bush officials blamed for leaking stories Embassy decries `ugly, false' stories on links to Saddam
TIM HARPER
WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON?Diplomacy be damned ? the French have had enough.
In a charge that goes well beyond any Parisian pique over "freedom fries" or calls to boycott their wines, the French embassy here hand-delivered a letter to the White House yesterday, accusing the Bush administration of engaging in a smear campaign by leaking baseless charges about the country to friendly, usually conservative media outlets.
It cited eight specific stories, dating back to last September, accusing the French government of everything from selling Iraq high-precision switches used in detonating nuclear weapons to helping spirit out wanted members of the Saddam Hussein regime by providing them with French passports.
"So many lies have been published in the neo-conservative press in this country we felt it was time to act," said an embassy official who asked not to be named.
The embassy letter calls them "ugly and false attempts" to link France to the Saddam regime.
"What is the purpose of these false accusations against France?" Ambassador Jean-David Levitte asked.
The move was the latest ? and most extraordinary ? manoeuvre in an ongoing battle between the countries since France opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
"It is extraordinary," said Jeremy Shapiro, an expert in U.S.-French relations at the Washington-based Brookings Institution. "But then those stories are extraordinary."
All nations that sat out the war, including Germany, Mexico, Canada and others, have received some type of snub or punishment from U.S. President George W. Bush, but France leads the lists of supposed friends who have incurred Washington's wrath.
The French embassy confirmed yesterday American tourism is down in France.
As the two countries faced off over Iraq in the U.N. Security Council, French fries and French toast were renamed in U.S. eateries and protesters brought dogs to pro-war demonstrations with signs reading "No French in my poodle." A new slur on the streets here is to suggest something was "very French of you."
The embassy broadside yesterday comes only two weeks before Bush is to travel to France for the summit of leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations and three days before a scheduled visit to D-Day beaches in France by U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow.
"The surprising thing is that they tell you this is a democracy here, blah, blah, blah," the French embassy official told the Star. "But the moment you take another opinion on something they call you a traitor.
"We are not naive. We know they will immediately deny it."
And so they did.
Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he knew of no such campaign, especially out of the Pentagon. He said it is only natural the U.S. would want to work with countries that were helpful in Iraq or Afghanistan.
"I suspect you're going to see that as a pattern because those are the people you're working with," he said. "But it's not a matter that you're anti-something. It's that ... you want to look forward and be engaged with people that you're likely to be doing things with."
As he spoke, the Pentagon cut back on the number of personnel and aircraft it is sending to the prestigious Paris Air Show next month, ordering no one above the rank of colonel could attend, cutting the number of U.S. planes on display from 13 to six, and ordering them to be grounded, not participating in any aerial displays.
Two U.S. officials said the Bush administration felt it would appear unseemly for officers to be "wining and dining" and "living the good life" in Paris while troops are in danger in Iraq, Associated Press reports.
White House spokesperson Scott McClellan said a charge of an organized campaign "has no basis in fact." He referred reporters at the daily White House briefing to recent comments by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who said "the United States and France, we've been in marriage counselling for 225 years."
The French believe the final hit came in a Washington Times story last week that quoted "an anonymous American intelligence source" as saying fleeing Iraqi leaders had been provided French passports by Paris.
Rumsfeld let the story hang at his briefing that day, suggesting reporters call the French embassy, but noting "France has historically had a very close relationship with Iraq."
That type of "ambiguity" only further enraged the French, the embassy official said.
"I think they've got a case that there are some people within the U.S. government who are spreading what can best be called rumours about France," Shapiro said.
"There have a been a spate of stories quoting `senior government officials' or `senior intelligence officials. ' ... They leave an impression, at least a taste of French perfidy, but nobody picks them up."
The very statement made once by Mr.Bush "You are either with us or against us" is a very "smart" one. 
