The Frenchman in a Suit Who Inquired of a War Supporter If He Could Ask Him a Question

I was present at the speech David E. Sanger gave at the Paris launch of the French translation of his book, L'Héritage (The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power).

During question-and-answer time, I made some comment to the Chief Washington Correspondent for The New York Times concerning Iraq and the fact that of the myriad reports and articles in Western newspapers and on Western TV shows throughout the years regarding the allegedly "unnecessary" and "disastrous" Iraq war, it was odd that so few seem to have been written by… Iraqis themselves.

• Everyday Meetings with Common Europeans

After the presentation was over, some young Frenchman (of Middle Eastern origins?) in a very well-tailored suit came up to me and said, "Can I ask you a question?" Mais oui. "Do you really believe that not a single Iraqi has died during the Iraqi war?!" At that, he let out a peal of high-pitched mocking laughter (I am tempted to think Brüno), his eyes wide open and staring into mine.

How to answer this? I decided to join in his laughter. "The way you described that was very funny." It indeed sounded ridiculous. "The only problem is, I wasn't the one who said that — or anything like it. You are…" This got him riled, and he started berating me about all the things about the Iraq war that I supposedly unaware of…