Le Pen sneaked through the middle and came second because there were a fair number of candidates. Then they had the run off, and pretty well everyone voted for Chirac, even though he is pretty rightwing. Fortunately they don't have a system in France which allows the person who gets fewer votes to become President.

"Kevin: So? Are you saying that Saddam should continue to rule Iraq?"
I'd love it if Saddam were out of the picture. Of course, he's by no mean the only ruler whom I'd love to see the last of, but he's up towards the top of the list. If I could snap my finger, and each time one vanished, I'd be busy snapping fingers for quite some time. Unfortunately it doesn't work like that. And the rules everyone has signed up to don't allow countries to make war on other countries, just in order to get rid of the bastards.

If those are bad rules perhaps there should be some way of changing them, but they are still there, and all countries are bound by them, and are acting illegally if they break them. Which I suppose means that the troops involved in the illegal war could reasonably be described as "illegal combatants. Fortunately I don't think anyone recognises that bizarre way of trying to evade the Geneva Accords, apart from Washington.