A senior Pentagon adviser today accused France of striking a deal with Saddam Hussein to oppose military action in return for a lucrative oil contract.
Richard Perle, a former US Assistant Defence Secretary, said the French anti-war stance was driven by economic interests. French oil giant TotalFinaElf has exclusive exploration contracts worth €60bn - €75bn to develop the massive Majnoon and Bin Umar oilfields in southern Iraq, he said.
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French oil giant TotalFinaElf has exclusive exploration contracts worth €60bn - €75bn to develop the massive Majnoon and Bin Umar oilfields in southern Iraq Perle explained that the contract is overly generous to the French to the detriment of the Iraqi people, so that following our soon-to-come regime-change, this contract would be invalidated and the concession reopened to bids by all oil exploration firms (including American -- who are currently forbidden by law from engaging in joint-ventures with the Iraqi regime).