The New York Times has a piece on the French Ambassador to the UN, Dominique de Villepin. It’s an interesting view into the life of a man who is obsessed with his work and obsessed with the glories of Napoleonic France.
If Mr. de Villepin has a vision, it is to revive the greatness of France — a romantic view he articulated in his book, "The Hundred Days," the first published volume of a biography of Napoleon that tells the story of the emperor’s return from exile, his triumphant march across France and his final defeat at Waterloo.
Describing Napoleon’s philosophy as "Victory or death, but glory whatever happens," Mr. de Villepin added, "There is not a day that goes by without me feeling the imperious need to remember so as not to yield in the face of indifference, laughter or gibes" in order to "advance further in the name of a French ambition."
It appears that Mr. de Villepin is perfectly willing to sacrifice the future of the United Nations in order to make France look big. Too bad what Mr. de Villepin has forgotten is that French ambition often is not met by the realities of French limitations – and if the French government thinks that trying to be a roadblock on the path to removing the cancerous regime of Saddam Hussein will lead to a greater France, they have made a tragic miscalculation.
