Jack Iraq Update
From the Guardian in reference to the EU vote:
Ministers will reconvene to choose a new candidate in around three weeks' time. Mindful of the trouble caused by the last strongly federalist president, Jacques Delors, Britain and several smaller countries last week blocked the colourless Belgian federalist Guy Verhofstadt, the favoured candidate of French President Jacques Chirac. The Irish presidency is seeking a compromise candidate, possibly the Portuguese commissioner Antonio Vittorino.
But the increasingly volatile Chirac is in no mood for pandering to the British.
'He's tetchy, unhappy, doesn't quite know which way to go - his officials are all frightened of him and nobody's giving him any advice,' says one Foreign Office source.
From the Independent:
Efforts to find a new president of the European Commission collapsed in acrimony amid an Anglo-French row last night after Tony Blair blocked Belgium's premier, Guy Verhofstadt, for the post.
After an open confrontation between the French president, Jacques Chirac and Mr Blair, the Irish presidency of the EU was forced to postpone the decision on a successor to Romano Prodi, who steps down at the end of October.
At an ill-tempered dinner on Thursday night, Mr Blair made clear his opposition to Mr Verhofstadt, who was France and Germany's candidate. M. Chirac said he could not support any contender whose country was outside the euro, excluding several potential candidates including Chris Patten, Britain's European Commissioner.
In the bitter aftermath, diplomats accused M. Chirac of bullying and intimidating small countries to try to get them to support Mr Verhofstadt, while Germany said the UK had led a group determined to block their candidate for the job.
Matt's Chat
So he likes to throw temper tantrums when Jackie doesn't get his way...what else is new... Jack is a bully and a thug and when people like him don't get what they want, they throw a fit. Sounds like the radical, "mainstream" Left to me.Mark's Remarks
He is a typical liberal--talk about diversity of opinion, but when push comes to shove, they are closet fascists.
