 JACQUES Chirac, the French president, yesterday undermined a show of Anglo-French unity by criticising the US-led drive to spread democracy.
| "The natives aren't advanced enough to be able to understand democracy!" |
Mr Chirac's warning about the dangers of advancing western values came days after Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, went to Washington and declared himself a whole-hearted devotee of democratising the world.
| That kinda lays out two opposing sides, then. The Frenchies never have done really well with the concept of democracy and individual rights, though. "Liberty, equality, fraternity" somehow led to the guillotine and then to His Imperial Highness... |
At a press conference yesterday, Mr Blair and Mr Chirac attempted to gloss over their differences over Iraq at the start of the French leader's two-day visit to Britain. But in a lecture afterwards, Mr Chirac openly questioned Mr Blair's belief that the spread of western values will reinforce western security. "We must avoid any confusion between democratisation and westernisation," Mr Chirac said. "The peoples submitted to the West's domination in the past have not forgotten and are quick to see a resurgence of imperialism and colonialism in our actions."
I wonder if the people of the Ivory Coast are aware of this? Phoney two-faced frog of the year award!| Recent actions suggest the Ivorians are fully aware ... |
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