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Yes, Israel would have acted, no doubt about it. After all, it was in Iraq that their warplanes bombed the Osirak reactor, after giving France a hint so our technicians could avoid the place. That Saddam's was getting close to nuclear capacity I'd say yes, but most probably in 1991. After the first Iraq war, I don't know, I'm no expert but it baffles me as to how it would have been possible to run a secret nuclear program when your country is half-occupied and closely watched by Coalition countries. But quite frankly, getting rid of Saddam was good enough a political objective to me, WMDs or no WMDs. As your President said "Good riddance, Saddam Hussein, the world is much better without you".

The France-Iraq relationship is, of course, well documented. The whole story is that the Western world, be it my country, yours, or many others, did prefer Saddam Hussein's Iraq over Khomeini's Iran. The prospect of a hostile takeover of the whole Middle-East by the radical Iranians did create some strange bedfellows. Chirac, Rumsfeld, and many other western officials went to Baghdad to offer all kinds of support to Saddam. he was a SOB, but, as one American once said, he was OUR SOB. taking him down was the right thing to do, no doubt about it.

As for Muslims in the French Army, well, of course there are some, but they are a tiny minority - as in the US military. You see, our Army is a very traditional institution. During the late 90s, there were questions about extreme-right influence in the Army, and the military security police, the DPSD, was called to make inquiries. The result was that there was a religion that was particularly active in our Army : Christianity. Our corps of officers is full of traditional Catholics, and the rank and file does not attract many French-Arabs. Believe me Muslims are in no position to take over. I live in Poitiers, the town where Charles Martel win his victory against Abd-el-Rahman II, so maybe I get optimistic about it.

I hope our transatlantic relation will soon improve, and that we'll soon realize the present hostility serves only our common enemies' interests. Many French people were shocked by the despicable diplomatic battle engaged by Villepin, and the fact he allied with such human-rights champions as Russia, China and Syria. They were also shocked by the level of incompetence he displayed in the Ivory Coast affair. I happen to know some of our PM ex-staffers, and they tell me Villepin is THE driving Anti-American force in the French Government, and that he has the greatest influence on our President. The whole diplomatic shenanigans still ashame and anger me to this day, and I really think US diplomacy should drive some wedge between Villepin and the rest of the Government.

Supporting one tyrant to counter a larger and more deadly tyrant had to be done from time to time. In a perfect world populated with nothing but righteous governments, we would not have to support one bad tyrant against another one. However, this world is very far from perfect. Having done bad in the past for a greater common good should not in anyway prevent us from destroying the little monster we created after the big monster has been tamed. This is precisely what was done and it was the correct thing to do. The left in America however seems to ignore the application of these simple procedures. The only greater common good they see is the increase in their own political fortunes.

Its good to know that the French are keeping close watch on their military personnal. France also has hundreds of nuclear warheads stockpiled. It definitly does seem that there was some collusion within parts of the French government against the best interests of the US for purely false reasons. From what I understand the popular notion within the left is that the US knew that 911 was going to occur beforehand and may have actively participated. This screwed up logic is common amongst the left worldwide. They would blame their neighbor rather then pick up a gun and defend their neighbor. I hope that France is not being setup by forces aligned with radical muslims and perhaps our common enemies who are attempting to distance Western Europe from the west. Just one of your nuclear armed submarines could devastate dozens of large cities

As Jeff Head has demonstrated (Dragons Fury), in the long run the next great war will be taming the red dragon. Its going to be a very tough fight. For example, I needed to buy 4 picture frames for my business yesterday. The best price was Chinese made at Walmart. $5 for each 11x14 frame. In the long run the Chinese are going to have all the cash they need to do whatever they want. Its simple economics.