When the United States announced a nuclear submarine deal with Australia Sept. 16, it meant the end of a $60 billion deal with France for diesel-electric-fired submarines. Announcing a new partnership with the U.S., 53-year-old Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the French diesel-electric-powered subs didn’t have the range needed to meet the demand of long-range patrols going from Australia to the South China Sea. After told that the U.S. and Australia “stabbed France in the back,” 43-year-old Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron insisted he was blindsided by Australia, without any advance notice. Morrison said he discussed with Marcon at a state visit in June that the sub deal no longer met Australia’s needs. Macron was so embarrassed, so humiliated, so disgraced that he called back the U.S. and Australian ambassadors in an unprecedented step for historic allies.
Macron lied to his Cabinet and the French people, insisting he was given no advance notice before Morrison told him the submarine deal was dead. Facing a bitter reelection fight next years, the Australian submarine deal cancellation humiliated Macron, making him look unfit to manage France’s affairs-of-state. French Amb. to Australia Jean-Pierre Thebault slammed Morrison’s government for canceling the sub deal to the Australian National Press Club, insisting Macron received no advance notice. Morrison said emphatically that he informed Macron back in June that Australia was canceling the diesel-electric submarine deal. Macron finds himself the butt of jokes for Morrison canceling the nuclear sub deal, prompting the 43-year-old French leader to continue denying that he was informed in advance. Morrison heard enough of Macron playing ElectionYear politics and went public.
Morrison released a private email from Macron inquiring about the submarine dea. “Should I expect good or bad news for our joint submarine ambitions,” asked Macron in an email to Morrison. Macron said that Morrison never notified him at a state dinner in Paris in June that the deal was in jeopardy. Since announcing the U.S.-Australian nuclear submarine partnership Sept. 16, Marcon has face withering domestic criticism for failing to inform his Cabinet and the French people about the end of the submarine deal. Macron’s 53-year-old chief rival National Rally Party leader Marine Le Pen said Macron’s failed deal showed he wasn’t fit for office. “This is an unprecedented new low, in terms of how to proceed and also in term of truth and trust,” Thebault said, turning the situation upside down. It was Macron that lied to his Cabinet and the French people about the failed sub deal.
France exposes for all to see the cutthroat politics in France where there’s a murky line with facts-and-reality. Morrison had no motive to lie about his meeting with Macron in June where he told the French president that the nuclear sub deal was in peril. “Doing so . . . sends a very worrying signal for all heads of state: Beware, in Australia there will be leaks and what you say in confidence to your partners will be eventually used and weaponized against you,” Thebault said. Thebault knows the one weaponizing the truth against Morrison is Macron, so save his sinking approval ratings, making him vulnerable in next year’s presidential election. Thebault won’t admit that Macron’s incapable of telling the truth when it comes to making him look bad. Morrison had no choice but to slap Macron back for painting him as an untrustworthy liar in doing business with the French Republic.
France continues to slam Morrison, insisting that Macron was not informed that Australia would back out of the submarine deal. “The deceit was intentional,” Thebault said. “The way it was handled was plainly as stab in the back,” continuing the ultimate deceit that Macron was not informed back in June. Macron must continue his lies to the French people, blaming the debacle on Australia. “Maybe there’s a difference between misleading and lying,” Thebault said. “But, you know, among heads of states and governments, when you mislead a friend and an ally, you lie to him,” Thebault said. Thebault pretends that Macron was telling the truth, when he didn’t want to expose publicly that the Australian sub deal was dead. France showed how desperate it is for lucrative defense contracts, slamming traditional allies when it suits Macron politically in an Election Year.
When it comes to credibility, there’s no reason to doubt Morrison saying that diesel-electric-fired submarines no longer met the Australian mission of patrolling the Pacific Rim and South China Sea to help contain China’s expanding influence. France was embarrassed by the Australia’s cancellation because it showed that they lack the nuclear technology necessary to meet Australia’s needs. France was thoroughly embarrassed because they sell themselves as a state-of-the-art defense contractor, when, in fact, they lack the technology needed for long-range missions. Instead of graciously accepting Australia’s cancellation, Macron turned it into a global scandal, punishing the U.S. and Australia. French voters now see that Macron tells any tale to preserve his approval ratings. But, truth be told, he couldn’t tell the truth about the cancelled sub deal without lasting political fallout.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
