This is important for those who follow Lebanese/Syrian developments. I have heard this account before from former Lebanese Minister, Mishel Samahah. Here, is the story of Chirac's early attempt to appease the US after the US war on Iraq: "The message to Assad was: The war has changed things in the Middle East, and you have to show you have changed, too -- by visiting Jerusalem or taking some other bold step for peace with Israel. The French were probably hoping to gain diplomatic leverage with Washington by acting as a peace broker, but that's not how Assad took it. "Are you the spokesman of the Americans?" he asked Gourdault-Montagne."