The French War for Oil
From the New York Post Online:MANY Americans are convinced even today that the war in Iraq was all about oil. And they're right - but oil was the key for French President Jacques Chirac, not for the United States.
In documents I obtained during an investigation of the French relationship to Saddam Hussein, the French interest in maintaining Saddam Hussein in power was spelled out in excruciating detail. The price tag: close to $100 billion. That was what French oil companies stood to profit in the first seven years of their exclusive oil arrangements - had Saddam remained in power.
The French claimed their opposition to the U.S.-led war to oust Saddam Hussein was all about policy. The editor of the Paris daily Le Monde, Jean-Marie Colombani, just resuscitated those arguments in an editorial that singled out George W. Bush as "a threat to the very foundation of the historical alliance between the U.S. and Europe," and called fervently for the election of John F. Kerry. (I guess that F now stands for France.)
But Colombani, whose paper's coverage of the war in Iraq was noteworthy for its wanton disregard for the truth, had not a word to say about his country's war for oil. Indeed, the secret deals the French state-owned oil companies negotiated in the 1990s with Saddam Hussein went widely unreported in France.
Matt's Chat
Absolutely stunning article. I heard this guy on FNC and he seems to have his stuff together. I will probably track down his book as it sounds like a real page-turner.Go read the whole thing...this one is a MUST READ!
Mark's Remarks
We at WMD have been speculating about the French malfeasance with Iraq for some time, along with Germany and Russia's involvement in impropriety. Now, it appears, someone has definitive proof. As usual, liberals who said this war was all about George Bush's desire for oil were projecting, as usual, their own sacred land's (France) desire for oil. Chirac is a crook, his own people are starting to see it, and now I hope there will be more investigation into this buffoon who the frogs elected as their leader.
More Good News: It appears Iraq is not letting the UN debacle over the Oil For Food program to go away. They have hired lawyers and accountants to figure out where and who perpetrated the misdeeds now being reported. If there were any justice, Koffi and son, Chirac, and a few others would have their heads on a pike.
