Polish troops find new French missiles in Iraq

Rueters via Yahoo! ^ | Friday October 3 | Pawel Kozlowski

[So Cal Rocket]

WARSAW, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Polish troops in Iraq have found four French-built advanced anti-aircraft missiles which were built this year, a Polish Defence Ministry spokesman told Reuters on Friday.

France strongly denied having sold any such missiles to Iraq for nearly two decades, and said it was impossible that its newest missiles should turn up in Iraq.

"Polish troops discovered an ammunition depot on September 29 near the region of Hilla and there were four French-made Roland-type missiles," Defence Ministry spokesman Eugeniusz Mleczak said.

"It is not the first time Polish troops found ammunition in Iraq but to our surprise these missiles were produced in 2003."

The Roland anti-aircraft system is a short-range air defence missile in service with at least 10 countries, including France and Germany.

They are fired from a mobile launcher vehicle and defence experts say the missiles are highly effective against aircraft attacking at low and medium altitude.

Under a strict trade embargo imposed by the United Nations, Iraq was barred from importing arms after its invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

Among others, Russia, Britain and France all sold arms to Iraq in the 1970s and 1980s. In Iraq's arsenal were Soviet-built Scud missiles, British Chieftain tanks and French Mirage fighters.

But Iraq managed to circumvent the arms trade ban in the 1990s through shadowy deals with various arms traders and kept its military equipment functioning.

"NO MILITARY EXPORTS"

"Since July 1990, France has not authorised a single shipment of military equipment to Iraq," a French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told Reuters. Similar accusations were made in the U.S. media in April, she said.

In 1980-81, 13 Roland-1 missile systems were shipped to Iraq and from 1983 to 1986, 100 Roland-2 missile systems. The Roland-3 has never been exported to Iraq, she said.

"It is not credible to say that the Roland missiles found a few days ago were produced in 2003 and delivered just before the Anglo-American intervention," the spokeswoman said.

"Let's be absolutely clear about this: no military exports to Iraq were licensed after July 1990."

It was unlikely that the missiles could be used 17-18 years after their delivery, she added.

Mleczak said Polish troops were notified about the missiles by a local Iraqi, who received a reward for the information.

"The ammunition depot was neutralised," said Mleczak. Polish television pictures showed missiles placed in a shallow trench and a huge explosion when the Poles blew up munitions at the site.

Since early September, Poland, a staunch supporter of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, has led a multinational force in one of four so-called stabilisation zones, in central Iraq.

In the run-up to the outbreak of the 2003 Iraq war, American and British combat pilots struck Iraqi anti-aircraft batteries repeatedly as they patrolled no-fly zones in the north and south of the country.

(Additional reporting by Jon Boyle in Paris)

[Green Knight]

France Arming Iraq Ping. THIS year, of all years. Think they sent the Iraqis those missiles in the hope that Americans would get killed with them?

[bert]

"Since July 1990, France has not authorised a single shipment of military equipment to Iraq,"

A true statement.

The question is" To whom did France sell missles produced in 2003 with the serial numbers XYZ 12345, XYZ 12346 and xyz12347?"

[bert]

....I believe the Poles....

I believe the Poles were the designated finders......
disinterested third party.

[prairiebreeze]

could be.

Prairie

[johnny7]

Don't worry, Teddy K. is already boning up on his Polish jokes over a fifth of Dewars.

Er... uhhhh... How many polacks... doesh id take... hic!... to fine a French missill?

[xJones]

LOL! france also denies they surrendered to the Nazis and didn't collaborate on shipping out Jews. They also claim there was a french resistance.

Y'know, if snippy and/or you needed to take a day off, you could choose "the French resisance in WWII" as your topic. You could get that puppy posted in 10 minutes and have the rest of the day for yourselves.:)

BTW, thanks, you two, for all your hard work making great threads.

[SAMWolf]

LOL! Thanks xjones.

We tried putting "french resistance" into Google once and all we got back was "You're kidding, right?"

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for posting this.

How do we know that some al Qaeda Islamokazis don't have these missiles in the US and are watching our airports for a possible strike with these new French missiles?

If they do, you/I or our family members could be on the planes targeted by them.

This is even more reason to boycott all French made products.

This has to cost the slimey Frogs tons of money. Lets continue to help the Frog's slide into economic hell with our boycotts!

French Products to Buycott! Please email this article and list to your friends and relatives.

Make it a lifestyle to avoid French products or products made by what appear to be a non French company in America. The reality is that many of these companies like Wild Turkey are owned by the French.

Let them fear the American Street---our combined wallets.

"France has burned too many bridges!"

Lets keep burning those bridges that the slimey and worthless frogs keep trying to build post Iraq.

$crew the $limey Frogs with a Boycott and no vacations in Slimey Frog Land!


French Products to Buycott

We can resist their wines which usually come in behind the good Napa Valley Wines and Australian wines in blind tasting without French Judges like in the Winter Olympics.

We can do without French Products and services for the rest of this decade. Here is a list of French companies and their products to avoid for the rest of this decade. Please keep this list and send it to your relatives, friends and fellow conservatives via e and snail mail!

*New additions to the list.

Air France

Air Liquide

Airbus

Alcatel - Based in Paris France, Provider of communications equipment, including ADSL equipment, terrestrial and submarine optical networks, public switching, fixed wireless access and intelligent networks.


Allegra (Allergy Medication) - Produced by Aventis Pharmaceuticals based in Strasbourg, France

Aqualung (Including: Spirotechnique, Technisub, US Divers, and SeaQuest)

AXA Advisors

*Bacou-Dalloz-Makes Industrial protective devices

Bank of the West - Owned by BNP Paribas

Beneteau (boats)

BF Goodrich - Owned by Michelin

BIC (Razors, Pens & Lighters) - Started in 1945 by Marcel Bich. Originally based just outside of Paris. Began trading on the Paris Stock Exchange in 1972. 40.5% Publicly traded. Bich family still owns 33.5%.

Biotherm (Cosmetics)

Black Bush

Bollinger (Champagne)

*Browning Firearms**

Car & Driver Magazine

Cartier

Chanel

Chivas Regal (Scotch)

Christian Dior

Club Med (Vacations) - Owned in part by Paris based CDC (Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations)

Culligan (owned by Vivendi)

Dannon (Yogurt & Dairy Foods)

*Danone -Lea and Perrin, Evian and other food/water

*Decatholon Super Sport Stores or MVP Sport Stores*

* Dassault Systemes-(CATIA design software)*

DKNY - LVMH acquired 100% of Gabrielle Studio Inc., the privately owned licenser of Donna Karan trademarks back in 2001.

*DMC THREADS

Dom Perignon

Durand Crystal

Elle Magazine

*Emile Henry French Cookware

*Enertec makes high speed recorders used in Recon aircraft p>Essilor Optical Products

*Essilon- Varilux Progressive Lenses for eye glasses

Evian

Fina Oil - Billions invested in Iraqi Oil fields -FINA GAS STATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES ARE NOT FRENCH-OWNED AND ARE NOT PART OF TOTAL-ELF-FINA ... FINA GAS STATIONS ARE OWNED BY ALON ISRAEL OIL COMPANY ..

First Hawaiian Bank

George Magazine

Givenchy

*Grey Goose Vodka

*GroupeSEB owns Krups, Moulinex, Roweta and Tefal Cookware

*Groupe Shneider, owner of Modicon and Square D

*Guerlain Fragrances

*Hachette Filipacchi owner publisher of many magazines sold in the USA. See the list below:***

Hennessy

Houghton Mifflin (books) International Herald Tribune - 181 ave Charles-de-Gaulle - F-92521 Neuilly - FRSource:World Business Council for Sustainable Development '00 [Domain Registration], [Corporate Profile]

Jacobs Creek - Owned by Pernod Ricard since 1989

Jameson (whiskey Owned by Pernod Ricard )

Jerry Springer (talk show)

Krups

****Lagardere****

Lancome

*Lea & Perrins a product of Danon

Le Creuset (Cookware)

L'Oreal (Health & Beauty Products)

Louis Vuitton

Marie Claire

Martel Cognac

Maybelline

Méphisto (Footwear & Apparel)

Michelin (Tires & Auto Parts) - Their phone number is: (33) 1 45 66 15 53 in France

Mikasa Crystal and Glass (purchased by ARC int'l in 2001)

Moet (Champagne)

Motel 6 - 33, Avenue du Maine- 75755 Paris Cedex 15 France

Motown Records

MP3.com

Mumms (Champagne)

Nissan (Cars) - Majority owned by Renault

Nivea

Normany Butter

Parents Magazine

*Perrier

Peugeot (Automobiles) - Pronounced "Pooh Joe", must be French

Pierre Cardin

Playstation Magazine

ProScan - Owned by Thomson Electronics, France

Publicis Group (Including: Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising)

RCA (televisions & electronics) - Owned by Thomson Electronics, France

Red Magazine

Red Roof Inns - Owned by the Accor group based in France

Renault (Automobiles) major owner of Nissan

Road & Track Magazine

Roquefort Cheese - All Roquefort cheese is made in France

Rowenta (Toasters, Irons, Coffee makers, etc)

Royal Canadian

Salomon (Skis)

Seagram's Gin

Sierra Software and Computer Games

*Sodexho Alliance* French Food Caterer for the US Marines

Sofitel (Hotels) - Owned by the Accor group based in France

Sparkletts (Water) - Owned by Danone, based in France

Spencer Gifts

Sundance Channel

Taylor Made (Golf)

Technicolor

T-Fal (Kitchenware)

The Glenlivet (Scotch) *Top Tobacco - Dist. by Republic Tobacco L.P., Glenview IL, made in France

UbiSoft (Computer Games)

Uniroyal

Uniroyal Tires - Owned by Michelin

Universal Studios (Music, Movies & Theme Parks) -

Universal Studios is owned by Vivendi-Universal, headquartered in Paris France

USFilter

Veritas Group

Veuve Clicquot Champagne

Vittel

Vivendi - Vivendi Headquarters, Paris France

Wild Turkey (bourbon)

*Winchester Firearms (US Repeating Arms)**

Woman's Day Magazine

Yoplait - France-based Sodiaal owns a 50% stake of Yoplait

Yves Saint Laurent

*Yves Rocher Cosmetics

*ZigZag (tobacco papers and roller products)*

Zodiac Inflatable Boats

*New additions to the list thanks to Freepers. If you have an addition, Freepmail me with the URL showing French ownership.

** Sad news but these two companies are owned by the Belgian Company Herstal, (French Light)

***List of 18 magazines sold in USA by Hachette Filipacchi with an estimated 50 million readers: American Photo, Boating, Car Stereo Review's Mobile Entertainment, Cycle World, ELLE Decor, ELLEgirl, Flying, Home, Metropolitan Home, Popular Photography, Premiere, Sound & Vision, Travel Holiday, Woman's Day Woman's Day Special Interest Publications.

****Lagardere owns the Virgin Megastore group in France, which it bought from Richard Branson three years ago. Its Hachette media division publishes a battery of magazines including Elle , see *** Hachette Filipacchi above. Lagardere also has a stake in the Airbus manufacturing operation. The company is capitalised at over €5bn.

[LaraCroft]

Unfortunately, the Poles destroyed the Missiles, and there is no 'evidence' left.

[weegee]

The question is" To whom did France sell missles produced in 2003 with the serial numbers XYZ 12345, XYZ 12346 and xyz12347?"

And also, did they bother to run a background check? The gun grabbers in the US should be chastising the French for not instituting a "waiting period" when buying missiles.

[BOBTHENAILER]

Thanks for the list of companies and products that have not, and will not see a penny of my money.

[Tommyjo]

http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=787763


WARSAW/ROME (Reuters) - Poland apologized to France on Saturday for claiming that its troops had found advanced French-made missiles in Iraq that had been produced this year.


The report sparked strong criticism from French President Jacques Chirac, who called it wrong and drawn up without proper checks.

However, neither Polish nor French authorities denied that the Roland-type anti-aircraft weapons were discovered near the Iraqi town of Hilla in a zone controlled by the Polish-led military force.

"Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski expresses regret concerning the information on the alleged date of the production of these missiles," the ministry said in a statement, adding that a investigation had been ordered.

The Polish Defense Ministry said on Friday that Polish troops in Iraq had discovered four French-made Roland missiles, which are part of short-range air defense systems in many countries including France and Germany.

Ministry spokesman Eugeniusz Mleczak told Reuters the missiles were manufactured in 2003, but the French Foreign Ministry promptly denied that, saying production of the most modern Roland 3 rocket ended in 1993.

"There could not be any 2003 missiles because those missiles have not been manufactured for 15 years," Chirac told a news conference at a European Union summit in Rome.

"I believe the Polish soldiers have created confusion that could have been avoided with thorough verification," he said, adding that he had made the point to Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller "in a friendly but frank and firm way."

FRANCE ANGRY

The spat briefly sent France's relations with Poland, the biggest of 10 countries set to join the EU in seven months, to fresh lows after Chirac criticized Poland for supporting the U.S.-led war on Iraq, some diplomats said.

But a senior French diplomatic source told reporters that following the Warsaw's apology "France was satisfied and the issue was clarified."

Many Polish politicians cannot forgive Chirac, an outspoken opponent of the war, for his remark this year that Poland and other EU newcomers "missed a good opportunity to keep quiet" when they signed a joint open letter in support of Washington.

France has been irritated by Poland's refusal to accept a new EU voting system embedded in a draft constitution which EU members and newcomers debated in Rome.

The United States gave a Polish-led force control over a zone in south-central Iraq after Poland emerged as one of its strongest allies in the war against Iraq.

Industrial sources in France said 2003 was the year the missiles were checked in Iraq by an Iraqi company, not the year of manufacture.

A French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told Reuters on Friday that Roland 1 missile systems were sent to Iraq from 1980 to 1981 and Roland 2 systems from 1983 to 1986. The Roland 3 was never exported to Iraq, she said.

Under a strict trade embargo imposed by the United Nations, Iraq was barred from buying arms after its invasion of Kuwait in 1990. But Baghdad managed to circumvent the ban in the 1990s through shadowy deals with various arms traders.

Copyright © 2003 Reuters Limited.

[Maelstrom]

Face it, they surrendered to Iraq sometime in the 1980's

[Maelstrom]

No real stretch at all...except the part about France not knowing.

That's a real stretch.

[Maelstrom]

From that picture, she's stifling the impulse albeit only barely.

[snippy_about_it]

Hey, I know, I could do one called "The FReeper Foxhole Studies the french flag".

I'll just leave the page blank, all you'll see is white.

[SAMWolf]

Well except for the yellow streak on the backside.

[upchuck]

To the wisea$$ who smuggled these missiles into Iraq and planted them so the Polish dudes could find them... Cherrock is gonna be might pi$$ed at you!!

[M1Tanker]

Remember, the gun-grabbing social-fascist Left doesn't believe in "waiting periods" for governments, only civilians. After all, they say, "Guns should only be in the hands of governments, not 'ordinary' people."

Governments like:
The Soviet Union: 20 million killed, torchered, missing, 'sick', imprisioned in gulags

China: I just ate, don't even want to guess... probably millions.

Iraq: 1.5 million gased. 50% of the population lost family and frends to Saddams "loving", "peacefull" rule

North Korea: 2 million (est) in "re-education camps". Estimated 20% death toll/year

Cambodia: 1 million +

NAZI Germany: 6 million +

Vichy France: Fought harder FOR Hitler than AGAINST him.

Ruwanda: 800,000 in UN refugee camps

Sudan: Millions enslaved

And that's just the top of the list... and only within the last 70 years.

[PhilDragoo]

Polish troops in Iraq have found
four French-built advanced anti-
aircraft missiles which were built
this year.

I am shocked, shocked!