On French Contrarianism

French President Jacques Chirac had this to say upon the passing of his confrere Yasser Arafat:

"...Chirac called Arafat as a 'man of courage and conviction,' but others were more tempered, reflecting the vastly different images of the Palestinian leader."

It's remarks like this that drive France further into international irrelevance, being sustained only by the ego driven by the anarchronistic veto it posesses at the UN Security Council.