From today’s Guardian:
The French president, Jacques Chirac, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to avoid a US-led war against Iraq, it emerged yesterday. The news came as Mr. Chirac was preparing, amid protests in Paris, to welcome the Zimbabwean [dictator], Robert Mugabe, and other controversial leaders to a two-day summit of African heads of state due to start today.
It also follows uproar in eastern Europe after he told former communist states hoping to join the EU that they had been “infantile” and “reckless” to support the US on Iraq. For someone who before his re-election nine months ago was widely seen as a charming chancer who had achieved nothing of note in a 40-year career and would be in prison were he not in the Elys¿e palace, Mr Chirac’s return to the world arena has been spectacular.
[…] one western diplomat warned: “He’s overplaying his hand. “The outburst against eastern Europe and the red carpet for Mugabe could lead people to doubt the sincerity of his stance on Iraq. Faced with such apparent double standards, you could legitimately start questioning his real motives.”
Let’s see he criticizes Bush for attempting to overthrow a dictator, and welcomes Robert Mugabe who follows in Saddam’s footsteps. Given his actions, can Chirac’s motives be any less clear? For more on Chirac’s good friend Mugabe see Zimbabwe’s Mugabe: Another Left-Wing Icon Turns Murderous.