Villepin Faces Tough Tasks Amid Widespread Doubt

Click on the title for an AP article about the some of the immediate challenges that need to be faced by new French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin. This will be a difficult task, since the country is virtually in shambles.

The appointment of Dominique de Villepin — a globe-trotting, silver-haired statesman who seems to epitomize France's privileged class — was criticized as a move by a leadership playing "musical chairs" in a bid for survival, rather than
a courageous choice to deal with the country's problems.

Ten percent unemployment and a possible rail strike have greeted the new PM, in just the first days. But this pales in comparison, to the image problem. It's one thing to have an image problem in the US, but to have one in his own country definitely puts him in the hole.

Many in France have seen the shake-up as nothing more than desperate damage control. It can be equated as trying to stop an arterial bleed with nothing more than a band-aid. Maybe soon, they will begin to realize that polishing things up on the outside will not address the deep internal problems, that are plaguing the republic. To do that, there will need to be a change of direction and not just a change of faces.