Of course, the French did not catch him. But then, the unresolved situation as it stands is so very much more elegant than the potential unpleasantness and paperwork involved in actually catching and prosecuting him, which would have allowed Bush to do something.

This situation leaves the White House impotent - and leaves Rumsfeld an official fugitive from justice.

Of course, the honorable thing would have been to INSIST that the matter be resolved before a court. But under Napoleonic Law, you have to establish your innocence, rather than our system, where the prosecution has to prove your guilt.

I can understand why Rummy might prefer a venue with different standards.

A FISA court, for instance.

viva la France!
why not send Bush & Cheney invitations to visit there?

Because they don't have a word for entrepreneur, George won't go. Dick probably wants to bomb them for impertinence.
Was the CIA called in to help?
Pity they didn't mistakenly put Rummy on one of those "guess the destination" torture flights.

They'll have another chance. He's returning in March.

Now, this bears watching. It will be interesting to see what happens, and how this plays out - if at all.

The smart money is on "nothing" - but we are speaking of France, the international synonym for "perversity."

Aside from that, much depends on general EU sentement, and perception of French foreign policy and business intererests, which are robustly competitive with US interests in the Middle East.

You know, I can't even begin to guess. Ain't this fun?

(And ain't dumb for essentially sticking his dick in the pencil sharpener, and daring the French to crank it, seeing the best possible outcome is "no, you might like it, colonial peeg?")