tejek,
re:reason why France is jeopardizing their relationship with the US?
Of course they were written by US and English sources.
Some links to articles on the subject:
washtimes.com
usainreview.com
French President Jacques Chirac's special relationship with Saddam Hussein goes back almost 30 years. As the French Foreign Minister in 1974, Chirac was instrumental in boosting France's diplomatic and economic ties with oil-rich Iraq. Chirac called Saddam Hussein "a personal friend" after Chirac and Hussein finalized the agreement for the construction of a French-built nuclear reactor near Baghdad; the reactor that was later bombed by Israel.
news.bbc.co.uk
news.bbc.co.uk
latimes.com
washingtonpost.com
Economic interests. France has a long history of commercial ties with Iraq, dating back to the early 1970s, when Hussein traveled to Paris, his first trip to a Western capital, and Chirac, a rising political star, returned the favor two years later by visiting Baghdad. Chirac is considered the architect of France's early Iraq policy that provided Hussein with a nuclear reactor (bombed by Israel in 1981) and then supplied Baghdad with Mirage F-1 fighter jets, Exocet missiles and Etendard aircraft during its war with Iran. In exchange, France received oil -- an important concession, because French companies had been largely shut out of the Gulf's oil supplies by U.S., British and Dutch firms.
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However, few analysts and journalists believe that commercial concerns are at the heart of French policy, and many note that France participated in the first Gulf War. The $5 billion debt, many said, is marginal, and some analysts said that France would actually have more commercial opportunities if Hussein were ousted.
It's just hard to know what their reasons really are, they appear to have so many. |
