Q: But Mr. President, can I put the question a little differently? Under what circumstances would France support the use of force against Iraq? To allow the inspectors to return or to oust Saddam from power? France is a sovereign nation and you have policies independent of the Security Council.
A: Yes, but I'm not sure I interpret well your position, because what is at stake today is not the change of the Iraq regime. One can wish for it. I do wish for it, naturally. But a few principles and a little order are needed to run the affairs of the world. The issue today is to know whether there are any weapons of mass destruction. And to know it, one should go to see. And to see it, the inspectors must be free, without any restrictions or conditions, to visit. This is the objective. If it is fulfilled, then it's over. The Security Council or the international community never wanted to change the regime in Iraq, because there are numerous countries where one wished to see another regime.
But if we go down that road, where are we going? Let me tell you something. I am worried. I've told it several times to President Bush. I am worried, and all the Europeans are worried about the rise of anti-Western sentiments around the world, in the poor countries, and in the emerging countries. Because of my great age, alas, I've known a lot of countries, lots of heads of state; I have relationships based on trust and friendship with many countries, often very long-standing ones, and they speak more freely to me than to some others. I know their countries, in general, whether we're talking about Africa or Asia. Latin America a bit less mainly Africa and Asia.
I've been struck, in recent years, but especially over the past two or three, by the rise in anti-Western sentiments among the public in those countries. That their leaders don't dare say when they're meeting with President Bush or Colin Powell. Because they need them, they don't dare tell them these things. And the truth is that there is a very, very strong surge, and that's troubling, extremely troubling, very troubling. Now we've worked very hard to forge an anti-terrorism coalition. Fighting terrorism effectively using all means - the military, the police, the courts, etc. - was a priority. And it worked.
My first conclusion: Let's preserve this coalition. We need it. Second, since we're all so eager to tell the entire world how to do things, why not create a second coalition: a coalition against poverty, a coalition for the environment - because the environment is on a tragic path - a coalition to resolve problems, conflicts and crises that exist more or less throughout the world and which we could resolve too if we were a little more generous and more committed. It would also be a very effective way to fight terrorism, and it would be a very effective way to prove ourselves worthy of our humanity.
