French Humanitarians: An Oxymoron?

This is so stereotypically French that it would be entertaining if it weren't sad and pathetic.

PARIS — One-upping the United States, France said Thursday it is the No. 1 donor for the Asian disaster — pledging 42 million euro ($57 million) — following barbs from Washington about the extent of French generosity.

Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin's (search) boast that France was vaulting to "the head of all the contributors" appeared to respond to comments from Andrew Natsios (search), chief of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which distributes American aid.

In a FOX News interview this week, Natsios said France tends not to be a world leader in foreign aid and often packages its help as loans, which he suggested were inappropriate in emergencies.

"The aid program in France is not that big," he said. "They do not tend to be dominant figures in the aid. The British are, the European Union is, the Japanese are, we are, the Canadians are."

In Paris, France's Foreign Ministry shot down those aspersions. Spokesman Herve Ladsous said French aid for tsunami victims "is clearly donations and not loans."

And the money shot?

French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, back from a tour of affected areas in Thailand and Sri Lanka, recommended that nations go beyond the relief and reconstruction coalition formed by the United States, India, Australia and Japan and laid out by U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday.

"Of course there needs to be a humanitarian action coalition — as President Bush just proposed," Barnier said. "But there also needs to be another international coalition against poverty, for development."

"Ah, oui, what ze Amerrricans arrre doing is fine, but we will go zem one betterrr, and donate morrre. And we weeell do eet wizzout zem, because we are Frrrance, ze grrreat humanitarrrian nacion zat brrrought you ze crrrisis in Cote D'Ivoirrre."

I've been to France. It's a beautiful country, and many of the people are wonderful; but as a culture, they can always be counted on to do whatever makes them look good, or whatever's in their best interests, without fail.

(For what it's worth, the death toll has passed 117,000, and shows no signs of slowing down.)