France's Conditions

Richard Cohen's Feb. 14 column, "A Disturbing Invitation," misrepresented France's position on Hamas. In France's view, three conditions exist for entering into a dialogue with Hamas: Hamas must renounce violence, it must recognize Israel and it must accept the Oslo Accords.

Regarding the Russian initiative, the French prime minister said on Feb. 13: "If through dialogue Hamas is led to reject violence, we can only welcome this." I see no difference between that statement and the U.S. position as elucidated by a State Department spokesman on Feb. 10: "If there is contact with Hamas, [the Russians] will send the very clear, strong signal that is outlined in the Quartet that Hamas has a choice to make and it must meet the conditions as outlined by the Quartet. I believe the French government is in total accord with that point of view."

Mr. Cohen said that the "sole animating foreign policy objective" of France "is to make life difficult for the United States." He should ask himself, then, what is the objective of the hundreds of French troops fighting alongside U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, and then he should take a look at the long list of shared interests and common initiatives that unite France and the United States.

JEAN-DAVID LEVITTE

Ambassador

Embassy of France

Washington