Wednesday, January 11, 2006

The Welcome Home for an Adventure-Hungry Firebrand

Unlike other freed French hostages, Bernard Planche thanked not only the French authorities for providing him with help, but also the Americans and the Iraqis. (Indeed, he stayed in harm's way for six hours, helping the Ironhorse soldiers who freed him hunt down his kidnappers.)

Being different is hardly looked on well in France (unless it is approved "cute" fringeness, such as the art world's). As we had predicted (and as had some of our readers), the French engineer is now being depicted as an adventure-hungry fringe individual, a firebrand, a desperado. As someone with undisclosable secrets. As someone who is untrustworthy. And those (convenient) bits of information we get from places as different as the press and France's secret service.

No comments: