BRZEZINKA, Poland (January 28, 2005) - In a press conference today, Mr. Seymour Hersh, the noted, award-winning investigative journalist, revealed that he is in possession of the full transcript of French President Chirac's speech, originally written for the Auschwitz commemoration this week. The speech, obtained from unnamed sources deep inside the Elysse Palace, contained several politically blunt paragraphs, that were not "spoken" during the ceremony. Mr. Hersh planned to publish the full text in the upcoming issue of "The New Yorker."
The secret text appeared to include a fierce rebuke to criticism by some Holocaust historians of "Europe's deadly silence on current human rights atrocities in Iraq." The historians criticized that in light of the almost daily "killing, bombing, execution, beheading of innocent Iraqis" by terrorists, "not a single pip of moral outcry" has been heard from the European political and intellectual establishments. Talking about Holocaust of 60 years ago, but ignoring today's atrocities revealed the true face of "Europe's hypocrisy and cynicism," the historians continued.
According to Mr. Hersh, President Chirac vehemently denounced the critics. Connecting today's terrorist deeds with the historical Holocaust was like comparing "the American mediocrity of a two-dollars-a-bottle Californian wine with the French greatness of a 1933 Chateau Petrus Pomerol," President Chirac wrote. This was in clear contrast to Russian president Putin's remark yesterday."We shall not only remember the past but also be aware of all the threats of the modern world...Terrorism is among them, and it is no less dangerous and cunning than fascism," Mr. Putin said.
In another paragraph, Mr. Chirac also defended the raising anti-Semite resentments in France, where the fascist National Front Party of Mr. Jean-Marie Le Pen still commanded about 20 % of the French electorate. "What do you expect me to say? In France, we have only 600,000 French Jews, but 6,000,000 French Muslims and 5,000,000 French fascist voters in the last 2002 presidential election." Mr. Chirac continued "We are French first, anything else comes later."
Elysse Palace's reaction to Mr. Hersh revelations consisted of only one terse sentence "C'est merde!"mildly translated to "That's crap!"
