France returns to Iraq

The journalist Bronwen Maddox notes that "it is never an encouraging sign when the fate of a country is thought to turn on one person, or one meeting. But the arrival yesterday in Iraq of Bernard Kouchner, the French Foreign Minister, is an important step. ... He arrives as relations between Britain and the US over Iraq have turned irritable; it is hard to see that as a coincidence. As Britain plans its withdrawal from Iraq the US needs a new partner, even if merely a diplomatic one, and France is well placed to step into that gap. ... What is there for France in involving itself in Iraq? A lot, given that it has no need to take responsibility for the outcome. ... It is helpful to have a country other than the US, Britain, or Iraq's immediate neighbours, try to seek out common interests among Iraqis. ... France may even be able to open the door to the re-entry of the United Nations in the conflict, although that is hardly the panacea that some suppose."

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