It was the French voice who the anti-war protestors applauded.. it was the 'voice of reason' embodied by Jaques Chirac who's cry they followed.. and it seemed as though world opinion.. as ill-formed as it might be.. could perhaps sway the will of the 'mighty US' and allow the semblance of peace to remain in the Middle East.. at meast that's the picture as Le Monde put it..
But now.. at this stage where we're well past the eleventh hour.. it is obvious that France.. the millions who followed the parade around the world.. could not force Saddam to capitulate and disarm.. or dissuade George from his intention of removing the government in Iraq..
As the focus shifts away from the United Nations and down to the battlefields of Iraq, France's voice will become increasingly irrelevant...We have grown used to asking at every twist in this year-long build-up, "What will the French say?" because what the French said truly mattered...
But that obsession with the French position, which has of course flattered the French themselves, will gradually peter out...as from now on the talk will be of offensives and surrenders, death and victory, destruction and the hope of re-building...
In none of this will France have a word to say.
Camped on its moral high ground, it may take solace in the consistency of its opposition to war. And there will always be many around the world who applaud what it did.
But France has never liked being left out of the international equation...however..in the new post-war order, it may have to get used to it.