Chirac: Lost his damn mind or just being silly?

Jacques ain't messing, according to the Guardian:

"Jacques Chirac said yesterday that France was prepared to use nuclear weapons against any country that carried out a state-sponsored terrorist attack against it.

In a speech aimed at defending France's 3bn euros-a-year (£2bn) nuclear arms programme, the president said the country's nuclear strike force was "not aimed at dissuading fanatical terrorists", but states who used "terrorist means" or "weapons of mass destruction" against France.

Some commentators reckoned this was sabre-rattling in order to bolster his waning authority at home. Well I hope so 'cos it certainly isn't a well-thought out strategy...

"(H)e said the country had changed its nuclear strategy, configuring its strike force to react "flexibly" to any new threat, particularly from regional powers. "The flexibility and reactivity of our strategic forces would enable us to exercise our response directly against its centres of power and its capacity to act."

Erm, ok - but in 'exercising your response', you'd end up hitting a whole lot of other stuff - like cities full of civilians. And possibly oil-fields. That shit is flammable, Jacques - you need to calm down, ok?

Chirac: "Go ahead terrorist punks - make my day".

Lost his damn mind, I reckon.

(Hat tip: Simply Jews)