Oh, Jacques!
The following dispatch was sent to me by Luc de Vlaming, my special assistant at Belgium's Permanent Representation to the UN.
His Serene Highness,
The Magnificent D
***
United Nations. I just love the French president, Jacques Chirac. Such a caring man! Why only a few days ago at the UN, I heard him say that the 'six countries' (Britain, France, China, Russia, the United States and Germany) should start negotiations with Iran on the fate of its nuclear ambitions without it having to first freeze its nuclear activities.
Why do you look so confused? I swear I heard him say this. What...you claim you also once heard him say that the halting of Iran's uranium enrichment would be a precondition for the start of such talks? My point exactly: this is a forgiving, loving, and eminently decent man, not afraid to change his mind in accordance with the needs of the moment.
When I first met Jacques, I was an architecture student in Paris. He was the mayor then. Everybody knew his story. Here was the offspring of a Turkish artisan and a Russian prostitute, who had somehow defied the odds of the French caste system to rise to become such a staple of French politics. Our next president!, people used to say. Ah...what a pleasure, then, to watch him work the crowds at events like those taking place this past week at the UN.
You should have seen him. He must have kissed almost every world leader (though, strangely, not the Iranian nutcase, Ahmadinejad). Emotions ran high. After he left the room, the leaders of the Solomon Islands and Sao Tome and Principe were caught fighting over who was more special to Jacques. Oh, Jacques, if only you could see how you affect those around you!
At a reception later that day, our eyes met, he immediately remembered me from my days in Paris, he hugged and kissed me and then sat down for an informal interview.
LDV: Jacques, it's so good to see you again!
JC: No, Luc, it is so good to see you again!
LDV: No, you!, I added playfully.
JC: No, you!, he continued, clearly enjoying himself.
LDV: Tell me, I asked, what did you enjoy most the last few days?
JC: To be honest? My speech. Even those who did not agree with what I had to say acknowledged they loved my delivery. I even got an invitation to Madagascar out of this!
He was beaming, but I quickly moved in for the kill.
LDV: Tell me, how do you respond to those who question your resolve on the Iranian issue? It seems like you capitulated entirely on your earlier position.
Jacques wavered for a moment and seemed unsure of what to say. But just as he was about to answer, the Solomon Islands and Sao Tome and Principe came into the room, each crying and insisting to find out who was more special in Jacques' eyes. He got up, hugged and kissed them both, and declared, You are both so special (and for a moment I thought I was special, the slut!). He then left the hall, accompanied by the two leaders on either side of him.
Luc de Vlaming
Special Assistant to
His Serene Highness,
The Magnificent D
His Serene Highness,
The Magnificent D
***
United Nations. I just love the French president, Jacques Chirac. Such a caring man! Why only a few days ago at the UN, I heard him say that the 'six countries' (Britain, France, China, Russia, the United States and Germany) should start negotiations with Iran on the fate of its nuclear ambitions without it having to first freeze its nuclear activities.
Why do you look so confused? I swear I heard him say this. What...you claim you also once heard him say that the halting of Iran's uranium enrichment would be a precondition for the start of such talks? My point exactly: this is a forgiving, loving, and eminently decent man, not afraid to change his mind in accordance with the needs of the moment.
When I first met Jacques, I was an architecture student in Paris. He was the mayor then. Everybody knew his story. Here was the offspring of a Turkish artisan and a Russian prostitute, who had somehow defied the odds of the French caste system to rise to become such a staple of French politics. Our next president!, people used to say. Ah...what a pleasure, then, to watch him work the crowds at events like those taking place this past week at the UN.
You should have seen him. He must have kissed almost every world leader (though, strangely, not the Iranian nutcase, Ahmadinejad). Emotions ran high. After he left the room, the leaders of the Solomon Islands and Sao Tome and Principe were caught fighting over who was more special to Jacques. Oh, Jacques, if only you could see how you affect those around you!
At a reception later that day, our eyes met, he immediately remembered me from my days in Paris, he hugged and kissed me and then sat down for an informal interview.
LDV: Jacques, it's so good to see you again!
JC: No, Luc, it is so good to see you again!
LDV: No, you!, I added playfully.
JC: No, you!, he continued, clearly enjoying himself.
LDV: Tell me, I asked, what did you enjoy most the last few days?
JC: To be honest? My speech. Even those who did not agree with what I had to say acknowledged they loved my delivery. I even got an invitation to Madagascar out of this!
He was beaming, but I quickly moved in for the kill.
LDV: Tell me, how do you respond to those who question your resolve on the Iranian issue? It seems like you capitulated entirely on your earlier position.
Jacques wavered for a moment and seemed unsure of what to say. But just as he was about to answer, the Solomon Islands and Sao Tome and Principe came into the room, each crying and insisting to find out who was more special in Jacques' eyes. He got up, hugged and kissed them both, and declared, You are both so special (and for a moment I thought I was special, the slut!). He then left the hall, accompanied by the two leaders on either side of him.
Luc de Vlaming
Special Assistant to
His Serene Highness,
The Magnificent D
posted by The Magnificent D at 8:14 PM
1 Comments:
Iran "could" obtain the "capability" to build nukes in 10 year...so "could" Surinam or Mongolia or my Uncle Bob.
PREDICTIONS ABOUT AN IRANIAN NUKE:
"The Iranians may have an atom bomb within two years, the authoritative Jane’s Defense Weekly warned. That was in 1984, two decades ago.
Four years later, the world was again put on notice, this time by Iraq, that Tehran was at the nuclear threshold, and in 1992 the CIA foresaw atomic arms in Iranian hands by 2000. Then U.S. officials pushed that back to 2003. And in 1997 the Israelis confidently predicted a new date: 2005….”
SOURCE: AP February 27, 2006 – Ever a ‘threat,’ never an atomic power…”
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=8367e0e9-149b-4a1e-9c74-1a979bd3e325&k=72529
Late 1991: In congressional reports and CIA assessments, the United States estimates that there is a ‘high degree of certainty that the government of Iran has acquired all or virtually all of the components required for the construction of two to three nuclear weapons.’ A February 1992 report by the U.S. House of Representatives suggests that these two or three nuclear weapons will be operational between February and April 1992.”
“February 24, 1993: CIA director James Woolsey says that Iran is still 8 to 10 years away from being able to produce its own nuclear weapon, but with assistance from abroad it could become a nuclear power earlier.”
“January 1995: The director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, John Holum, testifies that Iran could have the bomb by 2003.”
“January 5, 1995: U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry says that Iran may be less than five years from building an atomic bomb, although ‘how soon…depends how they go about getting it.’”
“April 29, 1996: Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres says ‘he believes that in four years, they [Iran] may reach nuclear weapons.’”
“October 21, 1998: General Anthony Zinni, head of U.S. Central Command, says Iran could have the capacity to deliver nuclear weapons within five years. ‘If I were a betting man,’ he said, ‘I would say they are on track within five years, they would have the capability.’”
“January 17, 2000: A new CIA assessment on Iran’s nuclear capabilities says that the CIA cannot rule out the possibility that Iran may possess nuclear weapons. The assessment is based on the CIA’s admission that it cannot monitor Iran’s nuclear activities with any precision and hence cannot exclude the prospect that Iran may have nuclear weapons.”
SOURCE: Cordesman and al-Rodhan
http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2006/08/24/bad-intelligence-but-in-which-direction/
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