Yeah, Yeah. France Sucks. We Know, We Know

When in doubt - blame France. It's become the American pastime. I'm waiting for Bush to triumphantly capture Jacques Chirac...

U.S. wrangles with France over terror alert

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One or more terror suspects may have escaped due to a premature disclosure in France of the security concerns behind the cancellation of Christmas flights to Los Angeles, U.S. officials say.

Six flights between Paris and Los Angeles were cancelled on Wednesday and Thursday at the urging of Washington after U.S. officials spotted what they believed were suspicious names on lists of those due to board the planes.

Air France made clear at the time the cancellations had been ordered for security reasons.

U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials had hoped all the suspects could be detained as they showed up for the flights, said a senior U.S. official familiar with the situation who did not want to be identified.

The official said "a chorus of groans" from the Department of Homeland Security to the White House went out when the French disclosed the reason for the flight cancellations.