Wikileaks: So Obama Has Just Been Channeling Chirac All This Time?

All this time that the Obama administration has been trying to wean Syria away from Iran in order to reduce its influence, Obama has just been thinking like Former French President Jacques Chirac--only in reverse:

Former French President Jacques Chirac was keen on initiating dialogue with Iran over Lebanon, according to secret documents released by the by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks.
In one of the cables, political director of the French foreign ministry Gerard Araud tells U.S. ambassador Craig Roberts Stapleton that "Chirac favored enlisting Iran in an effort to break the stalemate in Lebanon."

Ah, using Iran against Syria--and how did that work?

However, the foreign ministry opposed the initiative.

WikiLeaks quoted Araud as saying that Chirac had the single objective of ensuring that the Syrian regime does not gain a new foothold in Lebanon.

At least Chirac had the benefit of the US State Department equivalent to prevent him from embarrassing himself.

Other than that: is there any Western leader that has tried to play the Middle East without making a fool of himself?

Technorati Tag: Wikileaks and Jacques Chirac.