PARIS: French President Jacques Chirac and his US counterpart George W. Bush will stand side by side at next weekend's D-Day ceremonies, but they remain sharply divided on Iraq and the US-led "war on terror".
The French people, 60 years after thousands of young US soldiers died on the Normandy beaches during the Allied landings, are still genuinely grateful to the United States for liberating them from Nazi occupation.
A Bush-Chirac summit in Paris on Saturday and D-Day commemorations on Sunday, including a Franco-American ceremony at the American war cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, will be a testament to that gratitude.
Mr Chirac said last week that he would deliver a "message of gratitude" and "friendship" to the United States during the weekend events, noting: "I will say it in a very clear way. France has not forgotten."
But, as French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin explained last week during a visit to Dublin, being grateful does not mean being submissive. "We will never forget what the American people did for France and for Europe," he said, but added: "We are allies. We want to be heard as a partner with our own vision."
This demand to be heard peaked in early 2003 when Mr Chirac threatened to use France's veto power in the UN Security Council to block a resolution that would have given the international community's approval to the US-led war in Iraq.
Washington has still not forgiven Paris for what was perceived on the other side of the Atlantic as defiance and a betrayal. The Bush administration launched an unprecedented smear campaign against France, making numerous threats.
The open political hostility between the two countries has not been helped by the tepid personal relations between Mr Chirac and Mr Bush. While Mr Chirac's opposition to war is grounded in France's past and its secular tradition, Mr Bush regularly refers to his religious convictions and says the United States has a higher mission that justifies the use of force.
Last Tuesday, Mr Bush called Chirac to seek his support for the scheduled power transfer in Iraq, describing the discussion as a "great conversation" and saying the two "share the same goal: a free and stable and peaceful Iraq." -AFP
