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

To: d[-_-]b who wrote (162005)	2/24/2003 6:23:28 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1579690

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 agree with you that France is very independent and are 'hos. I think the only reason we have been allies is because they too are a democracy. However, France was not alone in taking advantage of Iraq's huge defense budget due to oil monies. In the 80s, France, Britain, Russia and the US were all very ready to sell arms to the ME countries including Iraq. They used sales of military equipment to gain influence in the oil rich ME region while helping their own companies make important sales. Here is one description of what has gone on since WW II: faculty.biu.ac.il There are other articles that cover most of the major transactions since WWII but this one covers the entire gamut. Its a pretty interesting read if you have the time. 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 think the country with the biggest financial ties to Iraq is Russia. In the last year they signed a huge billion dollar contract with Iraq for all kinds of stuff. If you look at this recent article, you can see that much of the Iraqi military equipment mentioned is Soviet and Czech built with the notable exception of the French Mirage F-1. washtimes.com I do find it ironic that Iraq flies French Mirage jets - sort of makes you wonder what else they sold them. France sold Iraq 100 F-1s during the 80s but by the end of the Gulf War Iraq had only 60 left. However, France was not alone in its selling of military equipment to Iraq. The sale was part of the West's buildup of Iraq to aid them in their fight against Iran. Unbelievably, during the 80s, the US had authorized the sale of nuclear related materials to Iraq. As far as I can tell, the major reason for the West's interest in ME affairs was due to the huge stores of oil there, particularly Iraq and Iran. In the 70s, there had been a shortage and oil was at a premium by the 80s. I think this past behavior on the part of the US, Britain and France is the reason why some now suggest the US is going after Iraq's oil. worldandi.com The above link is dated 1988. It notes that the US considered Saddam to be a badass prior to 1980 but then during the 80s, the West and the US took the side of Iraq over Iran and built up the very army we had to defeat in 1990. Its the height of irony. By 1988, if the article is any indication, the West was just beginning to figure out the monster they had created. With the help of oil money, Saddam had built this huge military machine that was beginning to look formidable.......of course, it wasn't as strong as it looked. So it looks like France and the rest of the West were complicit in their support of Iraq. I can't imagine what the West thought they were accomplishing by aiding and abetting Saddam. Thanks to that aid, we now are reaping the mess sown back then. And it also seems to me that citizens of Western countries need to pay closer attention to what bs their gov'ts get into. ted