By Andrew L. Jaffee

For those non-French-speaking readers, that’s “Chirac: don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out.” Yes, Jacques Chirac, friend of Saddam Hussein, who presided over the oil-for-food debacle, is exiting politics. I have to admit that Reuters summed up Chirac’s career quite eloquently:

French President Jacques Chirac is expected to announce his retirement from frontline politics on Sunday after a 45-year career that was strong on symbolic gestures but short on concrete reforms.