Man Flushes French Wine Over Iraq Dispute

Man Flushes French Wine Over Iraq Dispute

source: Associated Press Strange News

A restaurant owner angered by France’s lack of support for the United States’ position on Iraq staged his own protest by pouring nearly $1,000 worth of French wine and champagne down the toilet.

Anthony Tola also removed all French wines from the menu of his Old Bay Restaurant this week, replacing them with vintages from California, Oregon and Australia, and returned 48 bottles of French wine to his suppliers.

“It was a statement,” Tola told the Home News Tribune of East Brunswick for Friday’s editions. “If people feel what I’m doing is wrong or overboard, they can make their own statements.”

French officials have voiced opposition for weeks to the U.S. buildup of armed forces in the Persian Gulf and have said they would oppose any United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing force against Iraq.

Tola said he was not “someone who wants war, but feels war is sometimes necessary to protect our security. I think that’s absolutely the situation here.”

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