The word of the day regarding Chirac's phone call to Bush: Pragmatic.
Pragmatic: Practical as opposed to idealistic. Pragmatic men of power have had no time or inclination to deal with… social morality.
Think about that for a moment... Chirac thinks to himself:
"Saddam owes me alot of money. I look like an idiot for not siding with the US on this one. I also look like an idiot because they found all those munitions with my name on them. So I'd better be pragmatic about this if I hope to get paid one penny of what Saddam owes me. The best way to do that would be to suck up to Bush."
"Hello, Bush? This Chirac. Long time no talk. How's it hangin'? I've decided that France needs to be pragmatic about this Iraq thing."
Translation: "I'm going to bend my moral compass once again, just to be sure I get the money Saddam owes me."
Here's a lovely article:
US Forces Participated in Baghdad's Looting
http://www.sf-frontlines.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=236 Excerpts:
"Iraqis are ready to testify that American tanks destroyed the heavy metal doors at the Museum of Antiquities so the looting crowds could get in and smash and loot the records of the last 7,000 years of human civilization."
"There are Iraqi witnesses who would say that US troops were seen grabbing what they could from palaces, museums and administrative buildings while watching over the crowds they encourage to loot destroy and burn the buildings."
"- During the morning everybody that tried to cross the streets had been fired upon. But during this strange silence people eventually became curious. After three-quarters of an hour the first Baghdad citizens dared to come forward. At that moment the US soldiers shot two Sudanese guards, who were posted in front of a local administrative building, on the other side of the Haifa Avenue."
"- I was just 300 meters away when the guards where murdered. Then they shot the building entrance to pieces, and their Arabic translators in the tanks told people to run for grabs inside the building. Rumors spread rapidly and the house was cleaned out. Moments later tanks broke down the doors to the Justice Department, residing in the neighboring building, and looting was carried on to there."