Posted on 03/29/2003 9:59:09 AM PST by nwrep
There is concern among French businessmen over whether they may be about to suffer the consequences of the diplomatic row between Paris and Washington. Already Republican congressmen have urged Donald Rumsfeld to abrogate a contract important to France, worth nearly 1bn dollars, involving the French company Sodexo which provides the catering for several military bases in the USA.
As it turns out the contract will not be affected, but the French are far from reassured and have in fact set in operation in the USA what they describe as alert networks. Marc Lebeaupin explains:
[Reporter] The publication in the American press of an advert calling for a boycott of a number of French companies and brand names has added justification to this monitoring operation. It brings together our country's diplomatic representations and the whole network of foreign trade bodies, including the managements of French enterprises.
The purpose of the operation is to make sure that the United States abides by World Trade Organization rules, that French groups are not sidelined from tenders, and also that French products do not fall victim to administrative skulduggery.
Foreign Trade Minister Francois Loos deems this alertness necessary, even though for the moment nothing untoward has happened:
[Loos] What we must be on the lookout for are the controls to which businesses are subjected. Our products must not be blocked by customs for unduly long periods, for example. There's a whole series of malicious actions that can be taken, but so far we have detected none and, on the contrary, the feeling is that our companies know how to defend themselves through the quality of their products.
[Reporter] This monitoring operation was reactivated three weeks ago. The last time it was used was nearly 10 years ago, at the times of France's last nuclear tests in the Pacific.
Source: Radio France Internationale, Paris, in French 1045 gmt 29 Mar 03
/© BBC Monitoring
Publication: BBC Monitoring International Reports
Distributed by Financial Times Information Limited - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire
Copyright © 2003 BBC Monitoring International Reports. All Rights Reserved.
The French need not be concerned about whether there may be consequences for their duplicity.
They can count on it.
What are they gonna do about the friggin' empty hotels on the Champs Elysses this summer?
Goody-Goody, largest wine retailer and wholesaler in Dallas, has moved all large displays of French wine to the back of their three warehouse stores, "back by the shi**ters," as one of the managers told me this week.
He said they've stopped ordering French wine and champagne, since it will likely take all summer to work off current inventory at current sales levels. IOW, French wine sales at this retailer have fallen off a cliff.
Goody-Goody moves $3 million worth of wine each month.
A. The U.N. sent inspectors into Iraq to find weapons of mass destruction - the same WMD Saddamn said he did not have. Forming new alliances, France, Germany, and Belgium, continually sought prolonged inspection times in their attempts to restrain the U.S. and Britian from attacking Saddam. The U.N. Council repeatedly ruled in thir favor.
B. Saddamn, while insisting (and convincing France, Germany, and Belgium) he had no WMD, at the same time threatened the U.S. and Britian to destroy them (WITH THE SAME WMD HE CLAIMED NOT TO HAVE) if they attacked Iraq.
C. The United States and Britian agreed that Saddamn had not complied with U.N. resolution 1441, had WMD, then attacked and removed Saddamn from power to prevent him (or other terrorists) from using them.
D. After the U.S. and Britian attacked Iraq, vast stores of WMD, chemical, biological, and yes - even some nuclear - were uncovered by the prevailing U.S. and British forces.
E. Saddamn and his two sons were tried before a U.N. tribunal and unaimously found to be enemies of minkind perptetuating mass murders on their own people of magnitudes and ferociouceness not seen since Adolph Hitler's actions created the word "genocide." They were summarily hung for their crimes against humanity. Regrettably the knots where incorrectly tied and the distance of the drop was not sufficient to break their necks. They swung and kicked for almost thirty minutes before strangling to their infamous historical deaths.
F. The Democrats in the United States had their worst election returns in the 2004 elections in that party's history.
G. George W. Bush was elected president for a second term in 2004 by the largest landslide in U.S. history.
H. Ditto for Tony Blair.
I. Hillary Clinton was defeated for his (grin) bid for reelection in New York State.
J. Thanks to the "footdragging" tactics of France and Germany througout the entire world crisis, the United Nations was made to be a laughing stock of historical proportions and was deemed irrelevent and impotent and consequently vaporized into nothingness as did it's predecessor - The League of Nations.
Viva La France - French Military History in a Nutshell (Including *WAR ON TERRORISM*)
It's not a matter of blocking French products. It's a matter of any demand here drying up.
We don't play by those kinds of rules. The hell with you for inferring that we would.
...the feeling is that our companies know how to defend themselves through the quality of their products.
Sorry, but that's not going to help you.
On second thought, I'm not sorry.
Methinks Rumsfeld just put Syria ahead of the Frogs.
5.56mm
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