In today's Washington Post, Charles Krauthammer fisks a Wall Street Journal editorial by Jean-Marie Colombani, the editor of the French magazine Le Monde:

Colombani glories in Europe's post-Sept. 11 "solidarity" with America: "Let us remember here the involvement of French and German soldiers, among other European nationalities, in the operations launched in Afghanistan to . . . free the Afghans."

Come again? The French arrived in Mazar-e Sharif after it fell, or as military analyst Jay Leno put it, "to serve as advisers to the Taliban on how to surrender properly." Afghanistan was liberated by America acting practically unilaterally, with an even smaller coalition than it had in Iraq -- Britain and Australia, with the rest of the world holding America's coat.

But then came Iraq. "The problem was not so much the war itself, but the fact that it was launched without U.N. approval," Colombani explains.

Rubbish. The Kosovo war was launched without U.N. approval and France joined it. Only two wars have ever been launched with U.N. approval: the Korean War (an accident of the Soviets having walked out of the Security Council on another matter) and the Persian Gulf War.

Make sure you read the entire article. One point that Krauthammer misses, but which I think is key, is that while France moans about the US turning its back on international organizations, France (and Russia) still have not come clean about their involvement in the oil-for-food kickbacks which lined the pockets of our "allies" who now presume to judge us for our actions in Iraq.

As I posted back on January 30th, Russia received options for 1.3 billion barrels of oil, coming in first on the list, with France coming in second, with Jacques Chirac's crony and financial supporter Patrick Maugein controlling options on 36 million barrels alone. With an average profit of 50 cents per barrel, you can understand now why our French and Russian "allies" were so eager to appease Saddam, and why they were so eager to undermine US efforts to make Saddam comply with 17 UNSC resolutions and the terms of the Gulf War cease-fire.

Until the French and Russians account for their sell-out to Saddam, they have no business writing sad and mournful editorials (in the Wall Street Journal!), lamenting their exclusion from our calculations. They got their 30 pieces of silver, and now they also want our trust. As far as I'm concerned, that alliance is dead until the French account for their betrayal.

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