Mercoledì 2 Giugno, 2:22 PM: "Il mio amico Chirac"

"Loro non vogliono essere occupati ... nemmeno io lo vorrei ..."

Non tutti i combattenti Iracheni sono "terroristi"

George W. Bush a Paris Match

PARIS (AFP) - US President George W. Bush ha reached out to France in an interview in which he calls President Jacques Chirac his "friend" and tries to portray differences over his decision to invade Iraq as an amicable debate.

Il suo "amico" Chirac? "Un'amichevole discussione" sull'invasione dell'Iraq?

"I have never been angry with the French. France has long been an ally," Bush said in the interview, translated into French and made available to AFP ahead of publication.

Mai arrabbiato con i Francesi? La Francia un alleato?

On Iraq, he said, "I made a tough decision and not everybody agreed with that decision ... (but) friends don't always have to agree. Jacques told me clearly. He didn't believe that the use of force was necessary. We argued as friends."

Già, non tutti erano d'accordo con quella decisione ... Jacques non era d'accordo. ...Hanno discusso come amici.

When asked whether he would invite the French president to his ranch in his home state of Texas -- a privilege accorded to few foreign leaders -- Bush told Paris Match with a laugh: "If he wants to come to see some cows, he's welcome. He can come and see the cows."

Certo che lo inviterebbe al suo ranch in Texas ... l'amico Chirac può andarci e vedere le mucche.

NOVITA' ASSOLUTA, MA VESPA NON LO SAPEVA QUANDO RIMPROVERO' LA GRUBER

The US president also said that he did not consider all the Iraqis fighting the US occupation to be "terrorists".

Non tutti i combattenti Iracheni sono "terroristi".

"The suicide bombers are, but the other fighters aren't. They just don't want to be occupied. Not even me, nobody, would want to be. That's why we're giving them their sovereignty. We are guaranteeing them complete sovereignty from June 30," he said.

... Loro appunto non vogliono essere occupati. Nemmeno io, nessuno, lo vorrebbe. E' per questo che gli stiamo dando la sovranità .... completa sovranità dal 30 giugno...

Washington slammed France for its role in leading international opposition to the Iraq war, with US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dismissing it as part of an "old Europe" while French companies were excluded from reconstruction contracts in Iraq.

Washington's promises of restoring Iraqi sovereignty meanwhile have come under scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic.

The French newspaper Le Monde said: "We cannot speak ... of a transfer of 'full sovereignty'," and suggested that the White House was now "desperately seeking diplomatic, financial and military support" as it tried to extricate itself from a country that had become increasingly anti-American.

And the New York Times said the continued presence of nearly 140,000 American troops in Iraq, as well as US diplomats in Iraqi ministries, will doubtless keep "significant power" in US hands.

The paper quoted a UN diplomat as saying: "It's a charade. ... The problem is that you need a charade to get to the reality of an elected government next January. There's no other way to do this."

Bush's wife, Laura, contributed to the US charm offensive on France by giving an interview to state television network France 2 in which she also stressed that the two countries were "friends".

"Yes, we had our differences over the war in Iraq. But we have also worked together, we have worked together in Afghanistan. I think France will be with us in the reconstruction of Iraq, to help the Iraqis build democracy, to free themselves from the oppression of Saddam Hussein," she said, according to the channel's dubbed French translation of her remarks.

Già le differenze che ci sono tra guerra e non guerra! E la Francia non era esclusa dalla lista dei "ricostruttori"?

"I believe, I think that we will always remain friends, that our two countries will always be allies. I hope so."

The First Lady added that she thought that French animosity towards her husband came from not knowing him well enough.

"He deeply believes that freedom for all is important. I hope people see that in him. It's a hidden aspect in his character. He has a character that Americans are proud of: a strong personality, he's tough, independent, with a love of freedom. Those are American characteristics and my husband has them. I think the French have them, too."

Lui (Bush) crede che la libertà sia la cosa più importante, come il suo amico Silvio:

"Noi dobbiamo essere consapevoli della superiorità della nostra civiltà, che ha dato luogo al benessere e al rispetto dei diritti umani e religiosi. Cosa che non c'è nei paesi dell'Islam... Dobbiamo evitare di mettere le due civiltà, quella islamica e quella nostra sullo stesso piano... La libertà non è un patrimonio della civiltà islamica... La nostra civiltà deve estendere a chi è rimasto indietro di almeno 1400 anni nella storia i benefici e le conquiste che l'Occidente conosce... C'è una singolare coincidenza fra gli islamici e gli anti-global nella loro opposizione all'Occidente"
(Silvio Berlusconi, 26 settembre 2001). (da LA REPUBBLICA, 3 giugno 2004)

Tutto questo è costato migliaia di morti e feriti, torture e dostruzioni, e non è ancora finita. Comunque, che sia almeno l'inizio della pace in Iraq! E l'Afghanistan? E il terrorismo? E la Palestina?