France Rejects "War On Terror"
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Courtesy Of: Yahoo News
By Reuters News
Thu. Sep. 7, 2006

Paris (Reuters)--France issued an implicit criticism of U.S. foreign policy on Thursday, rejecting talk of a "war on terror."

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin speaking in parliament, expressed these views on global terrorism, while President Jacques Chiraq backed France's claims to the international front rank with a fresh defense of his country's nuclear arsenal.

Villepin noted Chirac's strong opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and said the Arab state had now sunk into violence and was feeding new regional crises.

"Let us not forget that these crises play into the hands of all extremists," the Prime Minister said in a debate on the Middle East.

"We can see this with terrorism, whether it tries to strike inside or outside our frontiers," he added.

"Against teeorism, what's needed is not a war. It is, as France has done for many years, a determined fight based on vigilance at all times and effective cooperation with our partners."

"But we will only end this curse if we also fight against injustice, violence and these crises," he said.

Villepin's remarks...came a day after U.S. President George Bush admitted that the CIA had interrogated dozens of terrorism suspects in secret foreign locations...

...Villepin's speech in parliament made much of France's role in securing a peace agreement in Lebanon backed by the United Nations, which he said had shown the virtues of "listening and dialogue."

"It is the duty of France and Europe to show that the clash of civilizations is not inevitable," he said.

"No one retains this wisdom, inherited from our history, as we, French and Europeans, do," he said.

Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060907/wl_nm/security_france_dc_1