France steps forward as champion of Lebanon peace drive

[tocqueville]

2 hours, 33 minutes ago

PARIS (AFP) - France claimed the initiative in international efforts to bring peace to Lebanon, distancing itself from the United States, a day after issuing a draft UN Security Council resolution on measures to end the fighting.

Amid international condemnation of an Israeli raid on a southern Lebanon village that killed 52 people on Sunday, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told reporters: "If people had listened to what the French have been saying for several days, this crisis would not have taken place.

"What distinguishes us from our American partners is that we (French) have been demanding from the start an immediate cessation of hostilities, (which is) the only condition for there to be a negotiation, then a political accord and a sustainable ceasefire."

..........................................

"At the request of ( President Jacques Chirac) I am going to Beirut ... to hold talks with the Lebanese government, back its action and see how we can immediately suspend offensive operations and find the conditions for a sustainable political agreement," he said in an interview to be published Monday in newspaper Le Figaro

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060730/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictlebanon_060730215727;_ylt=A86.I25AT81EQ0QApQKaOrgF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--

[jaxx]

1. This ought to make the wingers wild.

France outdoing dubya and condi.

[partylessinOhio]

2. Love France! Show * the way! Give him some brioche to munch on!

[marmar]

3. Vive la France!

At least one of the so-called advanced Western countries is showing something of a conscience, while Britain, Canada, Australia and others sit in silence, and the United States cheers for more death.

[davidwparker]

4. Très bien! Bonne chance M. Chirac.

[savemefromdumbya]

5. America would not have been formed if it hadn't been for the French

[Yupster]

8. I think that's an exaggeration

France was certainly important to the US winning its independance, but I don'tsee how Britain could have stopped us, with or without France.

[mcscajun]

11. It would have been simple for England to crush the American forces

without the significant financial assistance of France.

Granted, they did it for their own political benefit more than ours, but still...the Marquis de Lafayette was only one of the French officers who volunteered to assist the American effort with their military experiences and personal fortunes. The French government supplied the financing and assistance to obtain necessary weapons and military supplies, including (some) uniforms. After Saratoga, the whole business of their support went public (it had been fairly covert prior to Saratoga), and treaties with France were signed which included significant financial aid to the American forces, as well as allying their forces to fight the British alongside the colonists.

We would hardly have been able to get up and running without France's help, period; so, it's no exaggeration.

[GAPeace]

6. Even the right-wing French government has more sense than

our government and the supposedly centrist Blair.

[dalaigh lllama]

7. I thought this might be about their rescue efforts

I heard a story on NPR the other day about one of the American families trapped in Lebanon when the hostilities broke out. The family was unable to afford the cruise ship exodus, and when they asked the U.S. embassy to please help them, they were pretty much shrugged off. The French were the ones who ended up rescuing them from their hotel and getting them out of the country.

Viva la France!

[K8-EEE]

9. I Heard This U.S. Lady On NPR, France Got Her Out Of There

She said the US embassy didn't do a thing...they kept telling her to go to Beirut but she had two babies and there was no way to get there safely.

[flyarm]

10. vive la france!!... thank you my dear friends of france!!

un petit peu de l'amour apportera la paix!!

fly

[JackNewtown]

12. It is good to see some step up for peace nt