Strong-willed and determined, impetuous and unpredictable, Jacques Chirac is not called "le bulldozer" for nothing. Even Washington admits the French President paved the way for the Dayton, Ohio, peace talks by insisting, shortly after his election in May 1995, on the get-tough military posture that finally led to a cease-fire after 3 1/2 years of bloody fighting by Serbian, Muslim and Croatian forces in Bosnia. While Bill Clinton and U.S. negotiator Richard Holbrooke got the credit for orchestrating the final accord, they applauded Chirac's crucial role and agreed to hold the signing ceremony in Paris on Dec. 14.
On that day,...
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