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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (162003)	2/24/2003 4:39:28 PM
From: d[-_-]b	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1579681

tejek, re:But do you think that's the entire reason why France is jeopardizing their relationship with the US? I doubt they see it that way, the French are very independant but have been the quickest to jump into any new market. They don't appear to be vexed by a conscience of how their products will be used. I noticed this in North Korea when they opened the economic zones in order to get cash after both China and Russia cut them off from financial aid. I would like to see some investigative (hopefully) fair reporting of the financial ties, but in the current climate I doubt anyone could do the job. I keep hearing the reports of huge financial ties, but it's never itemized and shown to be innocuous like books and blankets. I do find it ironic that Iraq flies French Mirage jets - sort of makes you wonder what else they sold them.

To: tejek who wrote (162003)	2/24/2003 5:11:35 PM
From: d[-_-]b	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1579681

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. . . . 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.