Nathalie Loiseau, press counselor of the French Embassy, said that France remains committed to a strong relationship with the United States despite differences over the war in Iraq during a speech Friday evening at the French Embassy.

Loiseau, speaking before an audience of over 70 Georgetown students, emphasized that France will continue to be a strong ally of the United States in the struggle against terrorism.

Loiseau described France’s historical struggles against Algerian and Lebanese terrorists as “bringing France in the fight against terror.” She stressed France’s contributions in gathering and sharing critical intelligence with the United States to help avert strikes on American soil and capture suspected terrorists.

“When Ambassador Jean-David Levitte gave his credentials to President Bush, he was welcomed by the words, `France is the number-one ally of the U.S. in the war against terror.’ Bush was right, and still is,” Loiseau said, adding that the covert nature of France’s intelligence sharing was “a form of under-the-radar cooperation that can’t be easily made public.”

Noting France’s long-standing solidarity with the United States, particularly after the Sept.11, 2001 attacks, she described how the French ambassador to the United Nations proposed and passed a resolution equating the terrorist attacks with an act of war, giving the United States justification for retaliation out of self-defense.

“This resolution . was made under French watch and by French initiative,” Loiseau said.

She acknowledged the wide rift between the two nations leading up to the Iraq invasion, but defended her country’s decision to abstain from the war.

“In the forest of positive U.S. and France relations, Iraq is the tree overshadowing everything,” Loiseau said. “We consider that this war was not necessary. We knew we didn’t know everything [about alleged weapons of mass destruction]. And what we didn’t know we wanted the inspectors to find out, not the military.”

France felt frustrated, she said, because “for the first time a good ally was . not allowed to diverge on a very important issue of foreign peace.”

She also said that the current strained emotions between France and the United States are differences of the past.

“We may disagree on the methods, but being an ally doesn’t mean you never disagree,” she said. “It means you bring what you think is worth bringing to the debate.”

Loiseau also highlighted the role of French Special Forces in Afghanistan, the only force assisting the U.S. military along the Pakistani-Afghan border.

“[There is] no debate . we should be with the U.S. on that,” she said.

Loiseau claimed that France has further plans for post-conflict Iraq.

“We have agreed to train a sort of Iraqi gendarmerie, a military style police needed for law and order in town and countryside,” she said.

She also addressed trade issues, saying the economies of France and the United Nations are greatly intertwined. French companies in the United States employ over 600,000 Americans and U.S. firms in France retain over 500,000 employees, she said.

The address was made upon invitation of the French Embassy, which lies directly across from Georgetown University Medical Center on Reservoir Road, in order to start a dialogue with Georgetown students. The School of Foreign Service, the GU French Department and the Office of International Programs jointly sponsored the program, which was organized by the French Society, the European Club and the Global Living Community.