Over at normblog, here's an interesting take on Chirac's nuclear declaration. The key bit:

Suppose western intelligence agencies have come to a joint conclusion that there is now a dirty bomb (or something equally scary) out there in the wrong hands, even if they don't know whose hands it is in.

Who would be the best person to get a message across from the west to the terrorists? Chirac is the most anti-US of them all. As Nixon went to China, Chirac can beat his shoe on the table in a unique way.

That no other western leader has batted an eye makes me think he could be talking for all of them. If they continue to let it pass, they are effectively allowing him to speak for them as well, whether by design, or prior unspoken understanding, or not.