Too late: No help from Europe for US in Iraq: "'This very basic change in American strategy can be summed up in two words: Too late,' said Francois Heisbourg, 'Had this happened in July, you would have had 50,000 to 60,000 European troops in Iraq,' Heisbourg said. 'But there's no way a French, or a German, or a Russian politician can explain to his people why they would risk being associated with the mess created by the Americans -- just so the Americans can be home before the next presidential elections.' ... in an interview published today in the French daily Le Croix, [French Foreign Minister] de Villepin scorned as 'too late' the Bush administration's plan to cede sovereignty to an Iraqi provisional government by June. Calling for a transfer of power within the next six weeks, de Villepin said: 'We are in an extremely urgent situation.'"

Too late: No help from Europe for US in Iraq: "'This very basic change in American strategy can be summed up in two words: Too late,' said Francois Heisbourg, 'Had this happened in July, you would have had 50,000 to 60,000 European troops in Iraq,' Heisbourg said. 'But there's no way a French, or a German, or a Russian politician can explain to his people why they would risk being associated with the mess created by the Americans -- just so the Americans can be home before the next presidential elections.' ... in an interview published today in the French daily Le Croix, [French Foreign Minister] de Villepin scorned as 'too late' the Bush administration's plan to cede sovereignty to an Iraqi provisional government by June. Calling for a transfer of power within the next six weeks, de Villepin said: 'We are in an extremely urgent situation.'"