Leading French presidential hopeful sneers at Bush's 'axis of evil'

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2006

FRANGY EN BRESSE, France (AFP) — France's leading candidate for the presidency, Segolene Royal, described US President George W. Bush's "axis of evil" as simplistic and the invasion of Iraq as a mistake.

"Preventive wars aggravate the problems they presume to tackle. Only George Bush could think that the world is safer since the occupation of Iraq," she told more than 2,000 members of her Socialist Party in this eastern town.

"In this world, neither simplism -- such as the theory of an 'axis of evil' -- nor fear are good advisors," she said.

Her speech marked an intensification of her efforts to get the party nomination in November to run in the presidential elections due in April next year.

Polls show her to be the French politician most likely to...