Of course, the price of Mr. Chirac's illusions, should he ever have to pay it, would be well-earned. Who, after all, sold Iraq the Osirak reactor, knowing damned well what the Iraqis wanted it for? But the United States cannot afford to enjoy such a sight, for we and other innocents would be paying prices as well.

The French do play their little games with skill and pluck. They have done very well lately for a country whose entire foreign policy for over forty years went down in flames when the Soviet Union collapsed and Germany was reunited. Besides, they mostly annoy us over small stuff; when the going gets tough, the French are usually in the right trench. But this time they may be miscalculating, grandly. Over Ba`athi Iraq, France's success at petite grandeur cannot offset a failure to meet its essential responsibilities. If the French can't tell the difference, there may be big trouble in their raspberry patch come this spring.

Adam Garfinkle is editor of The National Interest.