As Iraq's President Visits France, Chirac Tones Down His Voice

The International Herald Tribune's Katrin Bennhold claims that Jacques Chirac is tempering France's criticism of U.S. policy.

While both Chirac and his foreign minister, Michel Barnier, have firmly denied any change in France's policy on Iraq, they appear to have softened their language on some of the main areas of controversy with the United States in Iraq.

Only a few months ago, French officials would still call for "an end to the occupation" and demand a concrete date for the withdrawal of coalition forces in Iraq. Thursday this demand was muted.

Of course, this is all realpolitik. Everything France does and says (or, conversely, doesn't do and say) is presented as being proof of superior wisdom, tolerance, capacity for reasoning, love of justice, avant-garde vision, etc: that is the message when Paris vigorously opposes Uncle Sam abroad and… that is the message when Paris tones down its voice to adopt "a new balancing act".

So far, it doesn't seem to be working…

[During the visit of Iraq's interim president Ghazi al-Yawar, Paris stressed] that it is ready to plan for a long-term cooperation with Bagdhad on issues ranging from education and health to archeology. French officials are also quick to stress that France is ready to pull its weight in the reconstruction of Iraq, pointing notably to its agreement to scrap €4 billion, or $5.2 billion, of debt owed to it by Baghdad.

But so far French goodwill has not won that much tangible appreciation.

While Germany has trained some 1,200 Iraqi police officers in the United Arab Emirates since March, a French proposal made in July for a similar effort has so far been ignored by Iraq.

"We explicitly renewed the proposal today, but there was no reaction," said one of Chirac's aides, who declined to be identified, after Thursday's talks.

Update: Following the historic Iraq election, President Ghazi al-Yawer derides one of the central tenets of French foreign policy as "complete nonsense"…