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To: Theresa
There's probably more to Chirac's kowtowing to Saddam than just the usual French cowardice and need to feel important. Chirac has a very long-standing relationship with Saddam Hussein, going back to the seventies. He was intimately and personally involved in brokering the supply of nuclear reactors and Jaguar fighters to Saddam, for example. Now, it's true that there's a lot of blame to go around here -- real or imagined -- but you have to remember that Chirac is a very corrupt man, and Saddam has always been, historically, very generous to very corrupt men. During Iraq's oil-financed arms-and-infrastructure bonanza before the Iran-Iraq war, kickbacks of up to $100 million were nothing unusual for setting up a big deal. Iraq used Swiss bank accounts extensively to reward foreigners who helped them out. According to UN arms inspector Richard Butler, the Russian foreign minister, Yevgeny Primakov, was one of the beneficiaries of such an arrangement. As for Chirac, what are the chances that he is not and has never been on the take from Saddam? Pretty low, is my guess.
135 posted on 03/14/2003 11:41:27 PM PST by The Great Satan (Revenge, Terror and Extortion: A Guide for the Perplexed)
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To: The Great Satan
Bingo. See my last.
195 posted on 03/15/2003 9:13:25 AM PST by Travis McGee (--------------------------- WAR SOLVED HITLER! -------------------------)
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To: The Great Satan
"....kickbacks of up to $100 million were nothing unusual for setting up a big deal. "

So there ya go. When France first started acting up I thought that Chirac might be personally making money under the table. But then all the former diplomats and well connected commentators on FOX won't go as far as to suggest it, although they do insinuate that perhaps some French and Russian companies are selling them stuff that is banned while their governments look the other way.

I am not going to hold my breath that any credible people who are in a position to really carry out pay back are going to have the gumption to dig for information that personal kick backs are involved and reveal it if it turns out to be true. That would take more gumption than 99 percent in government have.

247 posted on 03/15/2003 1:25:58 PM PST by Theresa
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