One can describe this behavior on the part of our erstwhile Old Europe allies only as a deliberate act of sabotage against America in time of war. It is even worse than the behavior of France in the Security Council — first joining with us to give Iraq a "really, really, last chance" and then preventing us from acting as if the language of Resolution 1441 meant what it said. It is of a piece with the exertions of French diplomats to "convince"African countries to vote against us in the U.N. I think that when the events of the past few months are sorted out, we will find that French actions constitute the diplomatic equivalent of chemical and biological warfare.

Monsieur Chirac has stopped at nothing to try to prevent the defeat of Saddam Hussein, no matter how many American lives it cost. And, more often than not, the Germans tagged along for the ride. It is hard to imagine that such actions were solely the result of greed, whether personal or national. To take such action, Mr. Chirac must have conceived of a French future not only independent of the United States, but in open opposition to us.