Colonial nostalgia and lying

"The French foreign minister, Michèle Alliot-Marie, today defended her controversial offer to help Tunisia's deposed president restore order days before he was ousted.  Alliot-Marie had been summoned to explain her remarks, made last week, to the Assemblée Nationale's foreign affairs commission.  The cabinet minister had offered to share the expertise of French security forces "recognised throughout the world" to help control the uprising.  Since Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled Tunisia on Friday, France has attempted to distance itself from the former leader, refusing him exile and ordering a block on his family's property and money held in France.  Today, Alliot-Marie fended off opposition calls for her resignation and told parliamentarians that France, along with other countries, had "not seen events coming".  "Let's face it, we were all of us – politicians, diplomats, researchers, journalists – taken by surprise by the jasmine revolution," Alliot-Marie said.  She said her offer had been "misrepresented" and had been aimed at helping the Tunisian people, not propping up repression." (thanks Raed)