Regards, Ivan
Posted on 10/08/2004 7:25:43 AM PDT by MadIvan
France called the White House yesterday to complain that senior members of its political elite had been wrongfully accused of taking large bribes from Saddam Hussein to end United Nations sanctions, as alleged in the final report of America's weapons inspectors.
Jean-David Levitte, the ambassador, told the White House and the State Department of France's "displeasure" that French officials and companies were accused without having a chance to defend themselves.
French diplomats expressed outrage that French officials had been named in the report while the identities of Americans had been concealed in accordance with privacy laws.
"Why does the law on privacy apply only to American citizens and not for others?" asked one French diplomat. "These are allegations which have not been verified. Individuals and companies have not been able to tell their side of the story yet their names have been tarnished."
Paris was particularly unhappy "that the names of individuals and companies were made public without any apparent attempt to verify the allegations, and without giving them an opportunity to explain themselves".
Earlier, the French foreign ministry denied the allegations, calling them "unverified, either with those concerned or with the authorities of the concerned countries". The report said France had received 15 per cent of the volume of Iraqi oil exports.
Charles Pasqua, a former French interior minister, was among several international figures accused by Charles Duelfer, the chief American arms inspector, of receiving lucrative oil contracts from Saddam as part of the dictator's drive to gain support for the lifting of UN sanctions.
The report by the Iraq Survey Group said it had uncovered reams of official Iraqi documents showing how Saddam diverted millions of pounds from the UN's oil-for-food programme, a multi-billion pound scheme intended to channel oil revenues to supplies for Iraq's poor and medicine for its sick.
Saddam had sought to purchase the political support of France and Russia, veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, by paying bribes to senior politicians, diplomats and businessmen. Iraq hoped to restart production of weapons of mass destruction once sanctions were lifted.
The ISG report says Iraq gave priority to improving relations with France but that its relationship was "tumultuous". It also notes that French oil companies refused to pay "surcharges" on Iraqi oil.
It said the Iraqi secret service "developed a strategy to improve Iraqi-Franco relations", among other means by "assessing possibilities for financially supporting one of the candidates in a forthcoming French presidential election".
Those "targeted" included "the official spokesperson of President Chirac's re-election campaign, two reported 'counsellors' of President Chirac and two well-known businessmen". The report does not say if those figures received money.
It reports an intriguing conversation between an Iraqi diplomat and an unnamed French parliamentarian who told him as early as May 2002 that France would use its Security Council veto to block US military action.
The report's principal conclusion was that Saddam had had no weapons of mass destruction at the time of the invasion last year, undermining America and Britain's key rationale for war.
President George W Bush made a brief statement yesterday saying he was convinced he was right to invade and that Saddam had been a "unique threat".
France has been abhorred as a traitor in large parts of the American heartland since the countdown to the Iraqi war when Paris led the international opposition.
Mr Bush exploited anti-Gallic feelings on the campaign trail last week when he mocked his rival, Senator John Kerry, for suggesting America needed to consult allies before taking pre-emptive action. "I'll continue to work with our allies," Mr Bush told a rally. "But I'll never submit America's national security to an international test.
"The use of troops to defend America must never be subject to a veto by countries like France."
The UN was also under relentless fire from the Right yesterday. Nile Gardiner, an analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, said Republicans in Congress saw it as one of the biggest foreign policy scandals in years.
"This will have a huge impact on how Americans view the UN and Security Council members such as France and Russia," he said.
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
French whine. Yawn.
Why does the law on privacy apply only to American citizens and not for others?"
Because they live in AMerica ya big galoot!
The French are like cats - they dont like thier excrement to be un-covered.
Ummm...don't accusations usually preceed defenses? OH, I know! The French are unhappy that private phone calls weren't made through the UN to the French officials and compaies in order to allow them to deny allegations before the allegations were even made.
It's called a diplomatic pre-emptive strike.
Prairie
I want to see President Bush hang a big sign on Sen Kerry tonight that says he is part of the French conspiracy to keep us from removing Saddam the Terrorist.....
Quelle Horror!
So true. The French have been making up stupid feudalist cartoons about the US for the past 50+ years. Like the US forces its culture on Europe. What a laugh! The French cannot stand the choices made by their own people!
It is not surprising that we tell the truth about the corruption of the French and they can't stand it. I just read about a new book in which a European confronts the European misconceptions about the US and the Euros are hopping mad. How dare anyone suggest that they are wrong!
[Mom! Make them stop telling the truth about France!(petulant stamp and pout)]
"Why does the law on privacy apply only to American citizens and not for others?" asked one French diplomat.
Because it's a U.S. law froggy and since you aren't American you don't qualify.
Here is the UncleSam RULE of THUMB:
The madder, angrier and more pissed-off the French are,
the happier UncleSam is.
yeah and Galloway says he's innocent also....pffffft!
Defense normally comes after you've been accused you fancy frog twit.
Le Boo hoo hoo. :o)
But what is the Paris Declaration?
The biggest mistake Ike made during WWII was to liberate these sniveling cowards. They should have been left to the Germans.
I love to see grown men cry. I stopped buying anthing French shortly after 911. Friends they are not. Allies they are not. To use an Australian saying "Bugger Them".
Well they were sort of in the way on the route to Berlin.
Regards, Ivan
For the French- I wish I had written this!!!
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