MORE BAD NEWS FOR CHIRAC:

DEBLIN, Poland — Poland on Friday signed a deal to buy 48 U.S.-made F-16 jet fighters for $3.5 billion, the biggest defense contract by a former Soviet bloc country since the end of the Cold War.

The Polish government announced last December that it had chosen the U.S. government-backed offer over two rival European offers — the Swedish-British Gripen jet and the French-made Mirage 2000.

I’m sure that Chirac’s nasty cracks about New Europe weren’t the only reason, but I’m also sure that they didn’t help.