quote:
. I think France resents the U.S. prominence that exceeds that of France, and it appears to me (as in the example of France voting the U.S. off the U.N. Human Rights Commission) the French seem to do whatever they can to frustrate U.S. military and diplomatic prestige.
Getting kicked off the UNHCR was payback for abandoning the Kyoto Accord.
French belligerence to US interests is a given. A few immediate examples:
1. in 1995, Chirac remarked to UN officials, "If you want to count on idiotic behaviour you can always count on the Americans."
2. in 1995, France said it would become a full member of NATO if a French admiral could take over NATO's Southern Comman in the Med. This was knocked bak (it would have meant the Sixth Fleet was in the command of a Frenchman).
3. in December 1995 Chirac told French TV that
European union was essential to counter "American hegemony".
4. the French refused to toast Warren Christopher at his farewell appearance at a gathering of NATO ministers in Brussels.
5. France backed Boutros Boutros Ghali over the appointment of Kofi Annan, primarily to displease the US.
6. France pulled out of NATO in the 50s, and then entered into a joint space programme with the Soviet Union.
7. France refused to allow US jets to fly through French airspace to bomb Tripoli (the retaliatory strike for the Lockerbie bombing).
