French Intervention Better

• Alain Juppé: We are ready!









In contrast with his cartoons on UN intervention — with its smiles, bon enfant-ness, and joy incarnate — and on U.S. intervention — with its hatred, death, and destruction (See UN Intervention Good, U.S. intervention Bad) — Plantu's cartoon on French intervention is something between the two (the French fighter is more realistic than the UN plane but with less focus than the U.S. plane on its killing capacities, while its pilot's neutral expression avoids the evil look of his American counterpart) and thus reflects, sans doute, the golden middle road.

What does the French cartoon symbolize but a policy that — naturellement — is inherently sober, somber, lucide, eminently responsible?…