Jacques Chirac's letter on nuclear disarmament
On 14 October 2009, four high-ranking French political and military officials published an op-ed in Le Monde calling for global nuclear disarmament. This letter shows that former president Jacques Chirac withdrew from the project shortly before publication. He supported to call for disarmament but was unwilling to express this position publicly for political reasons.
As General Bernard Norlain described it in our interview with him:
"And so, we had a lot of discussions with Michel Rocard on [the nuclear issue]. And it just so happened that one fine day in 2009, he called me to ask me to sign an article on the subject with him and Jacques Chirac that would appear in Le Monde [...]
Finally, Jacques Chirac withdrew, but Alain Juppé replaced him.
...
So, the story, as Rocard told it to me, is that Rocard and Chirac often had lunch together, and got on very well, especially at a time when they had both been relieved of their posts, one as President of the Republic, the other as Prime Minister. So they saw each other often, and got on very well. And so Rocard had to talk to Chirac about it and the other, Chirac, was totally in favour. That's the funny thing about saying that to people who claim to be Chirac supporters, it always surprises them. But then, I imagine that Jacques Chirac's entourage must have dissuaded him from getting into this op-ed. But I have a letter in my archives somewhere from Chirac saying "I totally agree with you, but because of the circumstances, I can't take part, it will be Alain Juppé". So, I have a letter, signed and all, well it's a photocopy, a signed letter because it was addressed to Rocard by Jacques Chirac. So, it's quite funny."
