[RJCogburn]

At first sight France appears an unlikely target for attack. Traditionally, it is considered to be one of the Western governments most sympathetic to Arab causes. President Chirac is welcomed as a hero by Palestinian youths on his visits to the Middle East.

Having been in these parts perhaps a bit too long, I speculate that this incident is reminiscent of Tonkin Gulf and the C Turner Joy.....a staged incident to give the French cover to be more helpful to US/British efforts against Iraq.

Crazy, huh?

[Miss Marple]

Call me crazy, but somehow I don't think that the French would blow up an oil tanker in order to give themselves cover. And I don't think we would blow one up to force them to reconsider, since the result is not necessarily predictable.

Occam's Razor says it was Al Qaeda or sympathizers, who may not have realized it was a French tanker.

[randita]

Having been in these parts perhaps a bit too long, I speculate that this incident is reminiscent of Tonkin Gulf and the C Turner Joy.....a staged incident to give the French cover to be more helpful to US/British efforts against Iraq.

Not crazy at all. Now if you really want to christen the tin foil, consider this far fetched notion that I'm sure will be bandied about my numerous anti-American sympathizers. They will say that the U.S. CIA was behind this attack, so as to propel France to take our side. Utter nonsense, but I'm sure it will be out there and believed in many circles.