Chirac, Strong on Terrorism?

Some of you might have noticed the markets tumbling during the day. One of the reasons is oil futures in New York closed above $68 a barrel, which is a 20-week high and near the record high of $70. Though it’s been building for several days, today’s capitulation is a result of the Iran confrontation heating up.

The latest development is that Iran’s central bank has started to transfer assets out of European banks for fear that their money might be frozen like after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

To add fuel to the fire, Jacques Chirac of all people yesterday in front of French Naval officers said the French if attacked could respond using conventional or weapons of “another nature”, which everyone took as meaning nuclear.

You can’t blame Iran for pulling their money but what’s the deal with Chirac?