French Leader: Bush Stiffed Blair

Britain got very little in return for supporting the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and U.S. policies make it all but impossible for anyone to act as a bridge between Washington and Europe, French President Jacques Chirac said in an interview published Tuesday.

"I am not sure, with America as it is these days, that it would be easy for someone, even the British, to be an honest broker. Perhaps that will change, but that is the current state of things," Chirac was quoted as saying in an interview with British reporters in Paris.

But British Prime Minister Tony Blair, speaking Monday night in London, argued that Europe had an opportunity to engage with the Bush administration.

"Neither Europe nor the U.S. should be arrogant about the other. Here there's an opportunity for Europe. American policy is evolving," Blair said in a speech at the London Guildhall.

"Increasingly both Europe and America are coming to realize that lasting security against fanatics and terrorists cannot be provided by conventional military force but requires a commitment to democracy, freedom and justice," Blair said.

Chirac is due in London on Thursday for a two-day visit to mark the 100th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale between the two nations. The French president will meet with Blair and enjoy the hospitality of Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle.

Recalling a meeting last year before the war in Iraq, Chirac said he told Blair: "We have different positions on Iraq. Your position should at least have some use. That is to try to obtain in exchange a relaunch of the peace process in the Middle East."

"Well, Britain gave its support, but I did not see much in return. I am not sure that it is in the nature of our American friends at the moment to return favors systematically," The Times newspaper quoted Chirac as saying.

Visiting Washington last week, Blair put the Middle East peace process at the top of his agenda, and Mr. Bush pledged to spend America's "political capital" brokering peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Mr. Bush announced last week that he planned to visit Europe after he is sworn in for a second term in January. "In my second term, I will work to deepen our trans-Atlantic ties with the nations of Europe," the president said.

Chirac said disagreements over Iraq had not spoiled relations between France and Britain. His most angry exchanges with Blair, he added, were about agriculture, not Iraq.

Blair has cast himself and his nation as serving as a bridge between Europe and the United States, but Chirac suggested it was impossible.

The French president said that strains between Britain and France were often exaggerated.

"It's very curious, this vision of permanent confrontation. I have no confrontation with the English in general or with Blair in particular," The Guardian newspaper quoted Chirac as saying.

The relationship, he reportedly said, is "built on competition, which implies mutual esteem. ... It's a kind of violent love affair."