The difficulties the French have in pronouncing the letter ‘h’ landed the country’s foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, in hot water.

Israeli media quoted the minister as saying Israel ‘will eat’ Iran if the Islamic Republic gained possession of nuclear weapons, prompting Kouchner’s office to issue a statement of clarification on Sunday.

Kouchner wanted to say in an interview given in English that Israel would ‘hit’ Iran if it developed nuclear weapons.

[from the Official Instruction Manual for French Foreign Ministers, 2nd English edition, Page 342]

IV. Public Statements to Foreign Newspapers

  A) Always make your remarks in English, so as to prevent any confusion with the foreign press’s translation.
  B) If at all possible, do not use words starting with the letter “h.”
    i. Additionally, avoid using any of the following words:
      a) bit
      b) hate
      c) think
      d) crepe
      e) sheet
      f) pommes frites
  C) Foreign Office employees are no longer permitted to hold “Pink Panther” marathons in the office during work hours.

Tags: international relations, israel, iran, france, hungry jews, comical misunderstandings, inspector clouseau

‘Three Times’, an Obama television ad airing from Virginia to Colorado, savages McCain for lavishing $200 billion tax ‘giveaways’ on ‘big corporations’ [...] The McCain side retorted that the ‘$4 billion’ in tax breaks for oil companies mentioned in Obama’s ad was misleading because McCain is proposing an across-the-board tax cut for all corporations and is not favoring the oil industry.

A spokesman for McCain also characterized as misleading the charge that a McCain administration would pursue war with Iran.  “See, this is totally unfair,” said spokesman Brian Rogers.  “We will be pursuing war across the board with many countries in the Middle East, not only with Iran.”

Rogers paused, then added: “‘Middle’ being used in a more expansive sense than normal.”

Tags: politics, barack obama, john mccain, war, iran, the "middle" east, oil

Rice says Iran not serious at weekend nuke talks
(AP) Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused Iran on Monday of not being serious at weekend talks about its disputed nuclear program despite the presence of a senior U.S. diplomat, and warned it may soon face new sanctions.
...
At Saturday’s meeting, Iran had been expected to respond to a package of incentives offered in exchange for halting enrichment of uranium… However, Rice said that instead of a coherent answer, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili delivered a “meandering” monologue full of irrelevant “small talk about culture” that appeared to annoy many of the others present at the table in Geneva.
...
Rice’s remarks about the Iranian presentation were much harsher than those of the host of the meeting, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who lamented only that Iran had not provided “all the answers to the questions.”

Jalili says U.S. not serious at weekend Flavor of Love talks
(Iran Daily) Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili accused the United States on Monday of not being serious at weekend talks about the most recent season of VH1’s “Flavor of Love” despite the presence of a senior Iranian diplomat, and warned it may soon face the possibility of not being invited to watch a Season 3 marathon at Jalili’s apartment.
...
At Saturday’s meeting, the U.S. had been expected to respond to an email proposing that Season 3 winner Thing 2 was a worthier match for rapper Flavor Flav than Deelishis, the victor of Season 2. However, Jalili said that instead of a coherent answer, the U.S.’s secretary of state Condoleezza Rice delivered a “meandering” monologue full of irrelevant “small talk about Iran’s disputed nuclear program” that appeared to annoy many of the others present at the table in Geneva.
...
Salili’s remarks about the American presentation were much harsher than those of the host of the meeting, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who lamented only that the U.S. had not provided “all the answers to the questions.”

Specified Solana: “The questions that were about Flavor Flav’s program ‘Flavor of Love,’ which was the point of this entire meeting.”

Tags: international relations, iran, vh1, flavor of love, nuclear weapons, flavor flav