Ecoutez!

A president speaks:

"The leaders of states who would use terrorist means against us, as well as those who would consider using in one way or another weapons of mass destruction, must understand that they would lay themselves open to a firm and adapted response on our part," Bush said during a visit to a nuclear submarine base. . . .

"This response could be a conventional one. It could also be of a different kind."

Bush, who is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, said all of [his country's] nuclear forces had been configured with the new strategy in mind and the number of nuclear warheads on . . . nuclear submarines had been reduced to allow targeted strikes.

It was the first time he had so clearly linked the threat of a nuclear response to a terrorist attack.

Oops. "Bush" est vraiment Jacques Chirac. Zat cow-boy.