Can you believe it? George Bush, the foursquare flatfoot of diplomatic dexterity, has finally discovered the nimble art of foreign intrigue.
While European nations were eager to establish a cease fire in Lebanon and seemed forthright about sending troops to enforce it, no sooner did the shooting dwindle to an occasional fatality than France, which was expected to send thousands of troops, offered a measly 200. To defend his regrets, Jacques Chirac voiced his conviction that the UN goal of 15,000 peacekeepers was "excessive."
Inundated with a barrage of ridicule, while hoping to maintain the illusion of French leadership of the force, Chirac grudgingly upped the number of French troops to 2,000, all the better to put on the face of friendship in the Middle East and develop trade relations in the region as robustly as possible.
And what did George do? Why, he leaped right in and commended Jacques