(from today's Telegraph) Jacques Chirac moved to restore France's battered relations with Britain yesterday by apologising to the Queen for the desecration of a Commonwealth war cemetery with anti-British graffiti.
The French president described the attack as "shameful" and insisted his country recognised what it owed to the British servicemen who gave their lives in two world wars and are buried on its soil. He coupled his expression of "sincere regrets" with support for the Armed Forces in action in Iraq. Graffiti left at the cemetery, which holds 11,000 bodies, included: "Rosbeefs go home", "Dig up your rubbish, it is contaminating our soil", and "Sadam [sic] will win and will make your blood flow". M Chirac's gesture came as French ministers joined local dignitaries, representatives of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the British ambassador in Paris for a ceremony of rededication at the cemetery in Etaples. He said: "I was appalled and deeply shocked to learn of the desecration of the British cemetery at Etaples in Pas-de-Calais. "This defacement is unacceptable and shameful and has aroused the unanimous reprobation of the French. On behalf of France and personally, I want to express to you my most sincere regrets. France knows what she owes to the tremendous devotion and courage of the British soldiers who came to help her regain her freedom in the fight against barbarity." His letter, which was received by Buckingham Palace yesterday, added: "The United Kingdom and France are two great countries and two great peoples, bound together by history and common values. "I can tell you that at the moment when your soldiers are engaged in combat, the thoughts of the French are naturally turning towards them." M Chirac's decision to oppose the invasion of Iraq sparked off an increasingly bitter exchange of insults between the two governments. French diplomats said the vandalism had shocked the president, who feared it would be seen as an expression of public opinion. The strains between London and Paris culminated last week when Dominique de Villepin, the French foreign minister, refused to say which side he wanted to win the war. M Chirac's apology was swiftly welcomed by Tony Blair. A spokesman for the Prime Minister said: "We unreservedly welcome the tone and sentiment of President Chirac's letter." Buckingham Palace said that any reply would be given in line with the advice of ministers. will -----Original Message----- From: Dana Tierney [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 03 April 2003 12:01 To: CF-Community Subject: Re: Piss on the French naw, you have a point. It's the first thing they teach you in statistics. Although I DO think the American public is dangerously naive, your poll doesn't prove it...you are right. Will Swain writes: > Not really. I think that polls in general are dangerous. You can generally > make them say what you want by: > > a) wording the questions in a particlar way. > b) skewing your sample. > > So, saying however many french want saddam to win the war is not telling the > full story. I would like to see what the questions and answer options were, > and what the sample was. There are a lot of Muslims in France, for example, > and the sample should have included the same proportion, not more and not > less, for it to be representative. I wonder if it did. Also, what were the > options for answers? Did they include "I want Saddam to win the war"? Or is > this extrapolation on the part of the pollsters or those reporting the poll. > > All the same can apply to the poll about Americans I quoted. > > In short, polls can be an interesting and sometimes enlightening 'snapshot' > into opinion, but one shouldn't read too much into them. > > Sorry, I'm probably waffling but I'm surviving on an average of 3 hours > sleep a night at the moment!! > > Cheers > > Will > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Dana Tierney [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: 03 April 2003 11:25 > To: CF-Community > Subject: Re: Piss on the French > > > true enough. My comment should really have been an answer to the person you > were answering, I believe. > > But since we are now talking, are you saying that since it is only 42% we > can't generalize and say that many Americans appear to believe what they > are told? If so, I think I disagree... > > Will Swain writes: > > > we were talking about polls and I was making an example about how > dangerous > > it is to extrapolate from the results of a poll and generalise about an > > entire country. > > > > will > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Dana Tierney [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: 02 April 2003 19:30 > > To: CF-Community > > Subject: Re: Piss on the French > > > > > > 42% is scary enough. So we were talking about how the French are fed > > erroneous information??? > > > > Dana > > > > Will Swain writes: > > > > > true....but hey. lets extrapolate anyway. ;) > > > > > > will > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: Maureen [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > Sent: 02 April 2003 15:14 > > > To: CF-Community > > > Subject: Re: Piss on the French > > > > > > > > > 42% is not a majority. > > > > > > <g,d&r> > > > > > > At 09:12 AM 4/2/03, Bill wrote: > > > >I never said the majority of americans are smart ;) > > > >----- Original Message ----- > > > >From: "Will Swain" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > >To: "CF-Community" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > >Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2003 9:07 AM > > > >Subject: RE: Piss on the French > > > > > > > > > > > >heres an interesting poll for you: > > > > > > > >According to a New York Times/CBS News survey, 42 per cent of the > > American > > > >public believes that Saddam Hussein is directly responsible for the > > > >September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=5 Get the mailserver that powers this list at http://www.coolfusion.com Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
