Elf, the Africa Gas Pump

The Théâtre des Déchargeurs. is showing Elf, a Gas Pump Named Africa, the play Nicolas Lambert wrote about the trial concerning "the break-in of the century".

As Le Monde's Pascale Robert-Diard writes,

Nicolas Lambert a tout retenu [du procès]. … Il a saisi ces phrases dignes des meilleurs dialogues d'Audiard, pointé la soudaine pudeur sémantique des prévenus dès lors qu'il s'agissait d'évoquer la "caisse noire" d'Elf et les financements politiques — "l'opaque", "l'occulte", "la cuisine", "ces choses-là", "cela" —, noté les petites lâchetés, les demi-vérités, les vrais mensonges et les faux aveux qui ont jalonné l'instruction à l'audience de cette incroyable affaire de détournements de fonds et de corruption où s'entremêlent intérêts pétroliers et déboires conjugaux, hommes d'Etat et hommes de main.

And so, after reading about this play concerning "French oil colonialism", you may be tempted to say, "At last! The French are finally going to come to their senses, and see that what they have been accusing Uncle Sam of is far worse, or a at least as bad, at home"; you may be tempted to say, "Ah, all these accusation about the lies of the Bush administration, they have finally seen the light and will be less eager to listen to the self-serving opinions of the media and the élite".

If you were thus tempted, you would be wrong. You would be making a big mistake.

The French, like the other Europeans (and the UN), never fail, it is true, to be good at judging domestic events that occurred in the past.

It is in the present that they fail, that they fail entirely.

Which is totally normal, when you think about it, as they currently (whenever that "currently" happens to be) have far worse things to worry about, and far worse enemies to themselves (and to the world) to confront than the excesses of their own leaders. Those great dangers, as always, come from Uncle Sam.

And so, five, 10, 20, 50 years down the road, the truth of Chirac's involvement with Saddam Hussein and the oil-for-food scandal may finally come out, and may be fully exposed.

As for the domestic scandals of the day, they will not be dealt with, or dwelt upon, because France will be far more charged up about Uncle Sam's latest perfidy!…

Just like today's scandals over the Elf affair or, say, the (10-year-old) Rwanda genocide, the élite and powers-to-be (and journalists) will spend the necessary time upon it, but will proceed to get it quickly behind them, a very necessary thing, you understand, not only "to quicken the process of national healing" but also in order to get back to the "nitty and gritty", i.e., confronting the latest perfidy to emerge from across the Atlantic…