Chirac Says UK Got Punk'd

You'll just have to call me unpatriotic but there are times when I love Jacques Chirac. I know that I live in land of the world's only superpower but I think it is absurd for us to think that everyone else is just going to roll over, die and let us dictate world policy. I thought that part of the reason why Blair decided to support the United States was so that we would take a more even hand in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. To date, we've basically been on one side - that of Israel. But, leave it to Chirac to point out the obvious and say that the UK got nothing from Bush support:

"Chirac said he had urged Britain before the invasion to press U.S. President George W. Bush to revive the Middle East peace process in return for London's support.

'Well, Britain gave its support but I did not see much in return,' Chirac was quoted as saying in Tuesday's Times. 'I am not sure that it is in the nature of our American friends at the moment to return favours systematically.'

Blair's staunch support for Washington over Iraq led to bitter divisions within the Labour Party and dragged down his public approval ratings.
Chirac, who will hold talks with Blair when he makes a state visit to Britain on Thursday, recalled a Franco-British summit last year when he asked the prime minister to try to influence U.S. policy on the Middle East.

'I said then to Tony Blair: 'We have different positions on Iraq. Your position should at least have some use'. That is to try to obtain in exchange a relaunch of the peace process in the Middle East.'"

Chirac is right. Tony Blair is just plain stupid if he's put his own country through so much internal strife over the war in Iraq and won't have a damn thing to show for it.