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French President Jacques Chirac has asked for a summit meeting of all 15 United Nations members in New York. At the same time, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin will visit Angola, Cameroon and Guinea over the next 72 hours, in an attempt to shore up support for the French position on the United Nations Security Council. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, clearly fearing a pile-up on U.S. President George W. Bush, rejected the French proposal for the summit out of hand.
The U.S.-end game is now clear; the French-end game is not as clear. The French have consistently opposed the U.S. plan for war against Iraq. Now that war is going to happen unless extraordinary events intervene, in all likelihood, the events will occur without a U.N. resolution and with France serving not only as a vetoing power, but also as the main catalyst for the American diplomatic defeat.
There are now three questions for France: First, how will it handle the period between now and the beginning of war; second, how will it handle the period during the war; and third, how will it handle the period after the war? Does France plan to remain in its current position as the main opponent of the United States on Iraq; does it intend to confine its opposition to the Iraq issue; or is France now moving into a broader, more permanent opposition?
Part of the answer might be found behind Chirac's calling for a summit. Chirac can have two reasons for the request. He could be trying to maneuver Bush into a forum, where he would be confronted by enormous pressure and either modify his position or be isolated. Or, his intentions could be to use the summit as an opportunity to reconstruct relations with Washington. Thus far, as de Villepin's visit to Africa indicates, France intends to remain in unremitting opposition to the United States on the war. It opposes the war and will make no compromise.
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