Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Proud Deplorable who wrote (16688)	4/8/2003 7:55:49 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

The Chirac-Hussein Connection - Courtesy of Stratfor.com February 19, 2003 Summary French President Jacques Chirac is a pivotal figure on the international scene, whose views on Iraq are of vital concern. Those views are not driven simply by geopolitics, however. The factors that shape his thinking include a long, complex and sometimes mysterious relationship with Saddam Hussein. The relationship is not secret, but it is no longer as well known as it once was -- nor is it well known outside of France. It is not insignificant in understanding Chirac's view of Iraq. Analysis In attempting to understand France’s behavior over the issue of war with Iraq, there is little question but that strategic, economic and geopolitical considerations are dominant drivers. However, in order to understand the details of French behavior, it is also important to understand a not really unknown but oddly neglected aspect of French policy: the personal relationship between French President Jacques Chirac and Saddam Hussein. The relationship dates back to late 1974, when then-French Premier Chirac traveled to Baghdad and met the No. 2 man in the Iraqi government, Vice President Saddam Hussein. During that visit, Chirac and Hussein conducted negotiations on a range of issues, the most important of these being Iraq’s purchase of nuclear reactors. In September 1975, Hussein traveled to Paris, where Chirac personally gave him a tour of a French nuclear plant. During that visit, Chirac said, “Iraq is in the process of beginning a coherent nuclear program and France wants to associate herself with that effort in the field of reactors.” France sold two reactors to Iraq, with the agreement signed during Hussein’s visit. The Iraqis purchased a 70-megawatt reactor, along with six charges of 26 points of uranium enriched to 93 percent -- in other words, enough weapons-grade uranium to produce three to four nuclear devices. Baghdad also purchased a one-megawatt research reactor, and France agreed to train 600 Iraqi nuclear technicians and scientists -- the core of Iraq’s nuclear capability today. Other dimensions of the relationship were decided on during this visit and implemented in the months afterward. France agreed to sell Iraq $1.5 billion worth of weapons -- including the integrated air defense system that was destroyed by the United States in 1991, about 60 Mirage F1 fighter planes, surface-to-air missiles and advanced electronics. The Iraqis, for their part, agreed to sell France $70 million worth of oil. During this period, Chirac and Hussein formed what Chirac called a close personal relationship. As the New York Times put it in a 1986 report about Chirac’s attempt to return to the premiership, the French official “has said many times that he is a personal friend of Saddam Hussein of Iraq.” In 1987, the Manchester Guardian Weekly quoted Chirac as saying that he was “truly fascinated by Saddam Hussein since 1974.” Whatever personal chemistry there might have been between the two leaders obviously remained in place a decade later, and clearly was not simply linked to the deals of 1974-75. Politicians and businessmen move on; they don’t linger the way Chirac did. Partly because of the breadth of the relationship Chirac and Hussein had created in a relatively short period of time and the obvious warmth of their personal ties, there was intense speculation about the less visible aspects of the relationship. For example, one unsubstantiated rumor that still can be heard in places like Beirut was that Hussein helped to finance Chirac’s run for mayor of Paris in 1977, after he lost the French premiership. Another, equally unsubstantiated rumor was that Hussein had skimmed funds from the huge amounts of money that were being moved around, and that he did so with Chirac’s full knowledge. There are endless rumors, all unproven and perhaps all scurrilous, about the relationship. Some of these might have been moved by malice, but they also are powered by the unfathomability of the relationship and by Chirac’s willingness to publicly affirm it. It reached the point that Iranians referred to Chirac as “Shah-Iraq” and Israelis spoke of the Osirak reactor as “O-Chirac.” Indeed, as recently as last week, a Stratfor source in Lebanon reasserted these claims as if they were incontestable. Innuendo has become reality. Former French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing, who held office at the time of the negotiations with Iraq, said in 1984 that the deal “came out of an agreement that was not negotiated in Paris and therefore did not originate with the president of the republic.” Under the odd French constitution, it is conceivable that the president of the republic wouldn’t know what the premier of France had negotiated -- but on a deal of this scale, this would be unlikely, unless the deal in fact had been negotiated between Chirac and Hussein in the dark and presented as a fait accompli. There is some evidence for this notion. Earlier, when Giscard d’Estaing found out about the deal -- and particularly about the sale of 93 percent uranium -- he had ordered the French nuclear research facility at Saclay to develop an alternative that would take care of Iraq’s legitimate needs, but without supplying weapons-grade uranium. The product, called “caramel,” was only 3 percent enriched but entirely suitable to non-weapons needs. The French made the offer, which Iraq declined. By 1986, Chirac clearly had decided to change his image. In preparation for the 1988 presidential elections, Chirac let it be known that he never had anything to do with the sale of the Osirak reactor. In an interview with an Israeli newspaper, he said, “It wasn’t me who negotiated the construction of Osirak with Baghdad. The negotiation was led by my minister of industry in very close collaboration with Giscard d’Estaing.” He went on to say, “I never took part in these negotiations. I never discussed the subject with Saddam Hussein. The fact is that I did not find out about the affair until very late.” Obviously, Chirac was contradicting what he had said publicly in 1975. More to the point, he also was not making a great deal of sense in claiming that his minister of industry – who at that time was Michel d’Ornano -- had negotiated a deal as large as this one. That is true even if one assumes the absurd, which was that the nuclear deal was a stand-alone and not linked to the arms and oil deals or to a broader strategic relationship. In fact, d’Ornano claimed that he didn’t even make the trip to Iraq with Chirac in 1974, let alone act as the prime negotiator. Everything he did was in conjunction with Chirac. In 1981, the Israelis destroyed the Iraqi reactor in an air attack. There were rumors – which were denied -- that the French government was offering to rebuild the reactor. In August 1987, French satirical and muckraking magazine, “Le Canard Enchaine” published excerpts of a letter from Chirac to Hussein -- dated June 24, 1987, and hand-delivered by Trade Minister Michel Noir -- which the magazine claimed indicated that he was negotiating to rebuild the Iraqi reactor. The letter says nothing about nuclear reactors, but it does say that Chirac hopes for an agreement “on the negotiation which you know about,” and it speaks of the “cooperation launched more than 12 years ago under our personal joint initiative, in this capital district for the sovereignty, independence and security of your country.” In the letter, Chirac also, once again, referred to Hussein as “my dear friend.” Chirac and the government confirmed that the letter was genuine. They denied that it referred to rebuilding a nuclear reactor. The letter speaks merely of the agreements relating to “an essential chapter in Franco-Iraqi relations, both in the present circumstances and in the future.” Chirac claimed that any attempt to link the letter to the reconstruction of the nuclear facility was a “ridiculous invention.” Assuming Chirac’s sincerity, this leaves open the question of what the “essential chapter” refers to and why, instead of specifying the subject, Chirac resorted to a circumlocution like “negotiation which you know about.” Only two possible conclusions can be drawn from this letter: Chirac either was trying, in the midst of the Iran-Iraq war and after his denial of involvement in the first place, to rebuild Iraq’s nuclear capability, or he wasn’t. And if he wasn’t, what was he doing that required such complex language, clearly intended for deniability if revealed? No ordinary state-to-state relationship would require a combination of affection, recollection of long history and promise for the future without mentioning the subject. If we concede to Chirac that it had nothing to do with nuclear reactors, then the mystery actually deepens. It is unfair to tag Chirac with the rumors that have trailed him in his relations with Hussein. It is fair to say, however, that Chirac has created a circumstance for breeding rumors. The issues raised here were all well known at one time and place. When they are laid end-to-end, a mystery arises. What affair was being discussed in the letter delivered by Michel Noir? If not nuclear reactors, then what was referenced but never mentioned specifically in Chirac’s letter to his “dear friend” Hussein? Whatever the answer, it is clear that the relationship between Chirac and Hussein is long and complex, and not altogether easy to understand. That relationship does not, by itself, explain all of France's policies toward Iraq or its stance toward a war between the United States and Iraq. But at the same time, it is inconceivable that this relationship has no effect on Chirac's personal decision-making process. There is an intensity to Chirac's Iraq policy that simply may signify the remnants of an old, warm friendship gone bad, or that may have a different origin. In any case, it is a reality that cannot be ignored and that must be taken into account in understanding the French leader’s behavior. Visit Stratfor.com...

To: Proud Deplorable who wrote (16688)	4/8/2003 8:01:44 PM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 89467

.......French arms sales and infrastructure projects in Iraq continued apace through the remainder of the 1970s. By the late 1970s, France was second only to the Soviet Union as a supplier of both civilian and military equipment to Iraq.6 In the 1980s, the French socialist government continued the trend.6 France strongly backed Iraq in its war against Iran. Other Western countries also did so. France and Russia provided the bulk of Iraq's war support.6 France supplied Iraq with sophisticated weaponry, including Mirage F1 fighter-bombers, Super Etendard aircraft equipped with Exocet anti-ship missiles,6 and equipment to improve the accuracy and range of Scud missiles.2 The sales are estimated at $20 billion.7 When Iraq had trouble paying, France rescheduled its debt.6 In a 1986 report about Chirac’s attempt to return to the premiership, the New York Times reported that the French official “has said many times that he is a personal friend of Saddam Hussein of Iraq.”9 In 1987, the Manchester Guardian Weekly quoted Chirac as saying that he was “truly fascinated by Saddam Hussein since 1974.”9 Iranians referred to Chirac as “Shah-Iraq” and Israelis spoke of the Osirak reactor as “O-Chirac.”9 When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, France took a lukewarm approach to the Kuwait's liberation. President Francois Mitterand sent emissaries to 24 countries to assure their governments French participation was purely defensive.2 Just a few days before Operation Desert Storm began in 1991, French envoys in Baghdad tried to find a diplomatic solution.6 Only after the French Embassy in occupied Kuwait was raided and four French citizens kidnapped did Mitterand take a firmer line against Saddam Hussein.2 Economically, French ties with Iraq have been a costly disaster.6 After helping Saddam Hussein build airports, factories and weapons, France is saddled with $4 billion in unpaid bills.6 France helped arm a power that it later had to fight.6 French diplomacy with Iraq has yielded scant results.6 <font size=5>In 1992, author-journalists Claude Angeli and Stéphanie Mesnier interviewed Saddam Hussein. While speaking of his sense of betrayal by France for its participation in the Persian Gulf War, Hussein threatened to expose French politicians for their support of his regime unless they continued to support him. Angeli and Mesnier published the quotation in their book, Notre Allié Saddam (Our Ally Saddam) (O. Orban 1992) ASIN: 2855656583, 274 pages, which is now out of print. They reported Hussein as saying:8 As for financiers, industrialists and above all those responsible for military industry, the question must be put to French politicians: Who did not benefit from these business contracts and relationships with Iraq? . . . With respect to the politicians, one need only refer back to the declarations of all the political parties of France, Right and Left. All were happy to brag about their friendship with Iraq and to refer to common interests. From Mr. Chirac [now the center-right president] to Mr. Chevenement [the socialist former defense minister] . . . politicians and economic leaders were in open competition to spend time with us and flatter us. We have now grasped the reality of the situation [of France's support for the 1991 Gulf War, a betrayal in Saddam's eyes]. If the trickery continues, we will be forced to unmask them, all of them, before the French public.<font size=3> In 1994, when American troops were rushed to the region after Iraq massed two divisions of Republican Guards near the Kuwaiti border, French Defense Minister Francois Leotard came to Iraq's defense. He said Iraq had not violated any U.N. resolutions, and he accused the United States of playing election-year politics.10 When Chirac became president, he followed his avowed model, General de Gaulle, to promote Gaullist power against U.S. power and support for Arab nations against Israel.2 In 1996 Chirac delivered a speech at Cairo University where he forwarded France as an alternative to the U.S. as Middle East peace broker. Chirac said Arabs would benefit from the change because the U.S. was too pro-Israeli. In 1995, France reopened its embassy in Baghdad at the charg‚ d'affaires level.10 In 1998, when the U.N. arms inspection effort in Iraq was collapsing, the French and Russians worked to head off an American attack. France denounced an American-British operation when it was staged.10 France's best friends in the Middle East are Syria, Iraq and Iran. These are three of seven nations the U.S. lists as state sponsors of international terrorism.11 A 2002 French bestseller says the Pentagon was not hit by American Airlines Flight 77 on September 11, 2001. It says the damage to the Pentagon could not have been caused by a Boeing 757, but was in fact the result of a carefully planned truck bombing or missile strike which was then made to look like a plane crash. It says the United States government staged the entire Pentagon crash in order to create justification for an invasion of Afghanistan. Francouz Thierry Meyssan, L'Effroyable Imposture: 11 Septembre 2001, Carnot; (January 2002), ISBN 291236244X; La L'Efroyable Imposture, El Ateneo; (May 2002), ISBN 950028684X; and Pentagate, USA Books (August 2002) ISBN 1592090281 On April 12, 2002, the Simon Wiesenthal Center released its first ever travel advisory. The advisory covered France and Belgium. Of France the advisory said, "In the last 18 months there have been over 400 hate crimes against Jewish targets in France including, in recent days, arson attacks against synagogues, Jewish institutions, beatings of Jewish school children and pedestrians and other acts of threats and intimidation in Paris, Marseilles, Lyon and other communities. As a result, the Simon Wiesenthal Center urges Jewish travelers to France to exercise extreme caution while traveling to that country." While anti-war personalities claim the U.S. wants war for oil, France may want no war for oil. In December 1996, the Jerusalem Post quoted Iraq's Oil Minister Amir Rasheed as saying: "'Friendly countries who have supported us, like France and Russia, will certainly be given priority" when the lucrative contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq are awarded after the oil embargo is lifted.2 In December 1996, the London Mail reported that Western intelligence services had learned French companies had signed multi-million dollar contracts to help rearm Iraq, among other things, in exchange for oil.2 At the 35th annual Baghdad international trade fair in November 2002, France was represented by 81 firms. Saddam Hussein gave the French and Germans priority in entering the Iraqi market. Regarding the Germans, this commercial priority was granted as a result of "the firm positive stand of Germany in rejecting the launching of a military attack against Iraq by the U.S," according to Al-Iraq, a government-run newspaper. "The importance of this fair is that it is a clear message that despite the risk of bombing, all these companies and all these countries still believe in peace," said Jihad Feghali, the managing Director of France's Nutris Company. The sanctions committee at the U.N. that reviews contracts between Iraq and international companies is constantly delaying and holding up Feghali contracts for review of dual-usage i.e. military value.12 On February 14, 2003, The Irish Examiner reported that Richard Perle, a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense, said the French anti-war stance was driven by economic interests. French state controlled oil giant. TotalFinaElf has exclusive exploration contracts worth $60 billion to $75 billion to develop the massive Majnoon and Bin Umar oilfields in southern Iraq, he said. Perle said oil experts who had analyzed the deal described it as "extraordinarily lopsided" in favor of the French company.13 CIS Paris, a Parisian broker that is active in dealings of many kinds with Baghdad, brokered a deal among the Chinese producer, the Syrian land transporter and the Iraqi buyer of a chemical that is among the best binders for solid propellant in long range surface-to-surface missiles. The chemical is a transparent liquid rubber called hydroxy-terminated polybutadiene, familiarly known in the advanced-rocket trade as HTPB. This is not for the short-range Al Samoud 2 or old mobile Scuds. The Chinese producer was Qilu Chemicals, 116 DaWu Road in Zibo, Shandong province, China. A shipment of 20 tons of HTPB, the sale of which to Iraq is forbidden by U.N. resolutions and the oil-for-food agreement, left China in August 2002 in a 40-foot container. It arrived in the Syrian port of Tartus (the Mediterranean terminus for an Iraqi oil pipeline today) and was received there by a trading company that was an intermediary for the Iraqi missile industry. The HTPB was then trucked across Syria to Iraq.14 The next day, the French government denied that it had allowed the sales.15 "Despite French denials, U.S. intelligence and defense officials have confirmed that Iraq purchased from China a chemical used in making fuel for long-range missiles, with help from brokers in France and Syria."16 In 2003, beginning in January, a French company sold aircraft and helicopter parts to Iraq for its French-made Mirage F-1 jets and Gazelle attack helicopters.17 This was amidst coalition preparations to militarily disarm Saddam Hussein and debates on U.N. resolutions to authorize that action. United Nations inspectors had previously established that Iraq had modified Mirage F-1 drop tanks for the delivery of biological and chemical weapons by a variety of means. On March 6, 2003, UNMOVIC listed these drop tanks among unresolved disarmament issues.18 ________________________ Footnotes 1. John Laurenson, French industry stands to lose, International Herald Tribune, March 7, 2003. 2. Binyamin Netanyahu, Backgrounder: France in the Middle East, Middle East Digest, Vol. 7 No. 12, December 1996. 3. Press Release, Announcement of the Forum for Coordinating the Struggle Against Antisemitism, December 23, 2001. 4. Biography of Michael Melchior, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 5. Press conference held at the Elysée Palace on November 27, 1967. Reported by Edward Dangooor, De Gaulle's opinion of Israel, The Scribe: Journal of Babylonian Jewry, Exilarch's Foundation, Issue 74, Autumn 2001. A firestorm of charges of anti-Semitism followed his remarks, culminating in an interesting exchange by two of the world’s elder statesmen, David Ben-Gurion and De Gaulle. Ben-Gurion sent a long letter December 6, 1967 and De Gaulle replied on December 30, 1967. The letters were made public with approval of both men on January 9, 1968. The text is in the New York Times, January 10, 1968. Donald Neff, Middle East History: November 1967: De Gaulle Calls Jews Domineering, Israel an Expansionist State, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, American Educational Trust, October/November 1999, pp. 81-82. See also Book review, Jonathan Judaken, Department of History, University of Memphis, of Pierre Birnbaum. Jewish Destinies: Citizenship, State and Community in Modern France, Translated by Arthur Goldhammer. New York: Hill and Wang, 2000. 6. Henri Astier, Iraq: the French connection, BBC News, February 23, 1998. 7. Amir Taheri, The Chirac Doctrine: France’s Iraq-war plan, National Review, November 4, 2002. 8. Melana Zyla Vickers, Saddam's French Connection: Does the Iraqi dictator have the goods on French politicians? The Weekly Standard, Volume 008, Issue 25, March 10, 2003. 9. The Chirac-Hussein Connection, Stratfor.com (Strategic Forecasting LLC), February 19, 2003. Paid site. There are a number of bootlegged copies on the web, but I do not link to them because they might violate copyright. A copy is reproduced by permission here. 10. War Talk Hits Its First Target: The Pivotal Ally, OOMO News, September 14, 2002. 11. John Aravosis, September 11 and Intolerance: On September 11, 2002 is the world a better place? About.com U.S. Politics, September 11, 2002. 12. Matt Dolan, Europe has ulterior motives for avoiding war, The DePaulia, February 14, 2003. Michael Freund, Business in Baghdad: Trading with the enemy, National Review, November 15, 2002. Evelyn Iritani, Iraq Fights Back With Commerce: Facing threat of war, Hussein's government signs lucrative contracts, especially with nations that oppose the U.S.-led effort to oust the regime, Los Angeles Times, November 11, 2002. 13. Breaking News, France accused of oil-for-peace deal with Iraq, Irish Examiner, February 14, 2003. 14. William Safire, French connection to Iraqi weapons reveals dubious motive, The New York Times, March 13, 2003. William Safire, A French connection on Iraqi arms, International Herald Tribune, March 14, 2003. 15. France Denies Claim of Iraq Weapons Sale: France Denies Columnist's Allegation of the Sale of Illegal Weapons Material to Iraq, ABC News, March 14, 2003. France denies columnist's report of 'French connection' for illegal sales of weapons material to Iraq, Associated Press via MSNBC.com, March 14, 2003. 16. Bill Gertz, Chinese sold Iraq 'dual-use' chemical, The Washington Times, March 15, 2003. 17. Bill Gertz, Iraq strengthens air force with French parts, The Washington Times, March 7, 2003. 18. UNMOVIC (United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission), Unresolved Disarmament Issues: Iraq's Proscribed Weapons Programmes, March 6, 2003, pp. 8, 57-61, 95-97, 100, 131, 159, 169. PDF format. Additional References Chua Lee Hoong, France's 'ethical' resistance a matter of self-interest, The Straits Times, March 19, 2003. Reinolf Reis, Alte Intimitäten zwischen Paris und Bagdad, ZDF.de, October 14, 2002. Alternate location. Joshua Glenn, Chirac's other Iraq Policy, Boston Globe, March 2, 2003, page E3. Facts on Who Benefits From Keeping Saddam Hussein In Power, The Heritage Foundation, WebMemo #217, February 28, 2003. John Hulsman and Nile Gardiner, French Act Unilaterally When Their Interests are at Stake, The Heritage Foundation, WebMemo #219, March 12, 2003. Arms transfers to Iraq, 1973-2002, SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute). André Glucksmann, France's five cardinal sins over Iraq, International Herald Tribune, February 22, 2003. Michel Gurfinkiel, A Beautiful Friendship? What France sees in Iraq, The Weekly Standard, Volume 008, Issue 07, October 28, 2002.

To: Proud Deplorable who wrote (16688)	4/8/2003 8:07:10 PM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 89467

In case you didn't read the last report, read this.......... <font size=5>In 1992, author-journalists Claude Angeli and Stéphanie Mesnier interviewed Saddam Hussein. While speaking of his sense of betrayal by France for its participation in the Persian Gulf War, Hussein threatened to expose French politicians for their support of his regime unless they continued to support him. Angeli and Mesnier published the quotation in their book, Notre Allié Saddam (Our Ally Saddam) (O. Orban 1992) ASIN: 2855656583, 274 pages, which is now out of print. They reported Hussein as saying:8 As for financiers, industrialists and above all those responsible for military industry, the question must be put to French politicians: Who did not benefit from these business contracts and relationships with Iraq? . . . With respect to the politicians, one need only refer back to the declarations of all the political parties of France, Right and Left. All were happy to brag about their friendship with Iraq and to refer to common interests. From Mr. Chirac [now the center-right president] to Mr. Chevenement [the socialist former defense minister] . . . politicians and economic leaders were in open competition to spend time with us and flatter us. We have now grasped the reality of the situation [of France's support for the 1991 Gulf War, a betrayal in Saddam's eyes]. If the trickery continues, we will be forced to unmask them, all of them, before the French public.<font size=3>

To: Proud Deplorable who wrote (16688)	4/8/2003 9:05:30 PM
From: Victor Lazlo	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

"How could you walk by when you saw them dead on the ground? " "Should have been done long ago !!!!! " << "This one said 'Death to Saddam,' " Shaker said. "They hanged him." Around him, the crowd chanted their defiance of Hussein. "Yes! Yes! Bush! Yes! Yes! Bush!" they screamed. "Saddam! No! No! No!" One man grabbed a picture of Hussein and started eating it, ripping violently with his teeth. Another man took a newspaper with a photo of Hussein and slowly tore off the head. >> yeah, that's a real love they display for Great Unlce saddam.. LOL ! But ralph, you are a fattened american. You live off the fat. No skin ever off your fat butt. you only want freedom only for you. Only you. You selfish pig, How can you deny the Iraqis what you so cherish for yourself? You are a typical fat, self-satisfied f*&^'n American pig. Take everyting for granted, pal. Only for you. Only YOU deserve it, you hog-fat American.