Ah, back to normal...

Chirac goes about his usual tricks. But the speaking of French at a formal occasion looks more cosmetic than anything else, an idle display of independence (quelle François!). As to the busting up of NATO, well, why should the corpse remain now that the spirit is dead?

NATO's raison d'être was, in the words of Churchhill, "to keep the Germans down, the Americans in, and the Russians out." Goal one has largely been accomplished, in fact, accomplished so well that we are now managing to keep the Russians out of the Ukraine simply by example. No one pretends to keep the Germans down any longer, and only a few still want the Americans in. Et Voilá...


Update: Mark Steyn weighs in with a good point: (via Instapundit)

America and Europe both face security threats. But the difference is America's are external, and require hard choices in tough neighbourhoods around the world, while the EU's are internal and, as they see it, unlikely to be lessened by the sight of European soldiers joining the Great Satan in liberating, say, Syria. That's not exactly going to help keep the lid on the noisier Continental mosques.

Dont'cha just love nuance?