France seeks to weaken the leadership of the United States (Richard Perle)

AFP via Babelfish translation ^ | January 26, 2002

[HAL9000]

"La position of the senator Lugar it is that if the French and the Russians want to have access oil concessions after Hussein, they must also take part in the military efforts and with the division of the costs to drive out Saddam Hussein of the capacity ", it had says during a discussion with the AFP.

That sounds fair.

[HAL9000]

Pentagon advisor says France only interested in Iraqi oil

WASHINGTON (AFP) Jan 26, 2003 - France is seeking to undermine US leadership in the showdown with Iraq to protect its commercial interest in Iraqi oil, US Pentagon advisor Richard Perle said Sunday.

Perle, chairman of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board, slammed France and Germany for their opposition to President George W. Bush's hard line on Iraq.

He told Fox News television that French President Jacques Chirac "has a long-standing predisposition to be friendly to Saddam Hussein, and the French government has commercial interests to protect in Iraq: oil," he said.

Perle, a conservative Republican, added: "It's ironic that people accuse the United States of being interested in oil.

"If you want to see who's interested in oil, look at French policy.

"It is entirely self-concerned, and it has to do with oil contracts and very little else."

Iraq has more than 10 percent of the world's oil reserves and France was heavily involved in the Iraqi industry before the 1991 Gulf War and the imposition of international sanctions.

"The French have an attitude toward the United States, toward their role in Europe, toward the role of the United States in Europe in which they clearly want to diminish the significance, the importance, the leadership of the United States," Perle said.

"Every French action points in that direction, so no one should be surprised that the French are trying to exploit this very difficult situation for rather narrow and unworthy French purposes."

But the Regan-era assistant secretary of defense said France could still change its attitude in the showdown with Iraq.

"I wouldn't be at all surprised if France comes around at the last minute," he said in the interview.

France has insisted that military action to disarm Iraq is not yet justified and weapons inspectors should be given more time. Germany has taken an even tougher stance, with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder declaring that his country will never support or join military action.

Perle said "the Germans have essentially put themselves out of this game by arguing, as the German chancellor did, that, even if the United Nations were to sanction a military action, Germany will have nothing to do with it.

"So the German chancellor should do us all a favor and stop talking about an issue that he has taken himself out of completely."

Perle last year called for Schroeder's resignation because of his opposition to war, which Schroeder turned into a major issues for the German elections last September.

Perle, who also serves as a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, said: "I think there are some people for whom (Bush) will never make the case, because they are unalterably opposed to taking effective action against Saddam Hussein."

He said Bush had made a case for action against the Iraqi leader "very clearly" and that Saddam would not be disarmed "by any means other than the use of force."

[LibWhacker]

Yellow weasels. Nothing ever changes with France. Perpetually impotent (Napolean was a one-man blip in French history), France always plays the spoiler. Thus the ONLY reason they supported us during the Revolutionary War was to cause Britain maximum grief, certainly not because Louis XIV was a great lover of democracy. Yet they expected endless homage from us because of it. SCREW THEM.

[2nd Amendment]

In a war, if a frenchman cannot find someone to surrender to. . .is it really a war?

[MHGinTN]

Perle has access to the data showing Chirac's receiving payments directly from Saddam's regime to Chirac's private accounts. He could have outed that data, but chose to hold it back, perhaps as a lever in future exchanges. [The means whereby that data was accumulated would be problematic for our intel, so that may have also entered into omission. We await 'the rest of the story'.]

[MHGinTN]

Ping ... you asked, my friend.

[537 Votes]

Appreciate your clean up, but the Babelfish translation was fun to read, even if only to show what the limits of computers (present company excepted, HAL) still are.

[Grand Old Partisan]

France lost several million dead soldiers in WWI, and in WWII its soldiers fought hard as well but lost so quickly because of their lousy generals, not cowardice. France today deserves all sorts of condemnation, but not canards about WWII.

[2nd Amendment]

I'll grant that to you. But didn't DeGaulle immediately opt out of NATO because they were too proud? Doesn't France have the reputation of a bunch of pseudo-intellectuals that sneer at Americans. Hasn't France been trading with the terrorist regime of Saddam Hussein? Didn't France harbor the Ayatollah? I've had friends visit France lately and the young sneer at Americans and what we stand for. I am a student of history and realize the contributions of Marquis De Lafayette, Rochembeau, and DeGrass to our history. Why doesn't France throw off this existential-induced nothingness and become a real country again like they once were?

[Grand Old Partisan]

I'll agree with most of that, but let's give De Gaulle his due. During WWII, he was the only French general to mount a counterattack in order to cut off the German sweep to the channel ports. Having only his own armored division and a couple infantry divisions he managed to gather to him, he failed but not before giving Rommel a scare.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy sent an envoy to ask for French support. The envoy had barely begun his presentation when De Gaulle handed him a note: "Mr. President, France is with you. De Gaulle."

[navyblue]

Ah, and let's not forget when the allies were about to invade North Africa how Le Grande Charles had to beg and plead with the Vichy French forces NOT to fire on the allied invasion force!

[Arpege92]

France has only one interest....France! Iraq doesn't concern them until THEY have something to lose and should THEY become concerned for their well being, then France drops the attitude and becomes friends with the United States again.

[Grand Old Partisan]

The behavior of the Vichy French was hardly De Gaulle's fault. Vichy France was the legitimate French government at the time, while De Gaulle was just some general in exile.

[Taffini]

Napolean---- He was born in Corsica—an Italian— in 1769; France had annexed Corsica in 1768, so he was officially a French citizen. Although his parents were not extremely wealthy, they were nobility. While Napoleon built up around himself a mythology of low origins, he was still higher up on the social scale than the overwhelming majority of Europeans.

Looked this up on the internet--He wasn't really "french" apparently..

[Servant of the Nine]

France today deserves all sorts of condemnation, but not canards about WWII.

The French fought so bravely and so stupidly in WWI that they killed out the bravery genes from the entire population. Every Frenchman today is the descendant of the cowards.

SO9

[small voice in the wilderness]

I'm sure when the time is at hand, France will collectively put on their Jacques-straps and march side by side with whoever seems to be winning at the moment. Lead on, brave Frenchmen.

[Grand Old Partisan]

And the genes of the brave Frenchmen are being replaced by Moslems.

[SandRat]

Oil - Schmoil. The Axis-of-Weasels are there because of their fear that if we go in we'll find hard evidence that they are complicit in giving SUH-dum WMD materials or technological aid to build WMDs. LET'S ROLL and when we have the evidence let's show it to the world and prove that the cowards in the UN and the Axis-of-Weasels are impotent and corrupt to the core.

[2nd Amendment]

You are right about DeGaulle. He was one of the few French leaders that were skeptical about the Maginot Line and saw the need for a fast mechanized force to oppose the Germans. Many of the older French people still remember Normandy and pay their respects at Flanders, etc. I speak out of frustration because of the lack of French support for our actions in Iraq. Bush, and now, Powell see an ominous danger in the the regime of Saddam and feel we need to do something about it now. It seems the French and the Germans have forgotten about their allies and are only after their own narrow self-interest.

[ellery]

Really???!!! Is this confirmed? Tell me more...