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Politics : Foreign Policy Discussion Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (5505)	4/23/2003 5:36:49 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 15987

If we did that, Hawk...to control Tehran's goals in Iraq... what leverage would we have over France when the time came to lift the sanctions? I think because we're calling the shots in Iraq (for the most part), France will need to fall in line. Unless it can be discovered that Chirac (and maybe Putin) are supporting Iran in their mischief making in Iraq. I wouldn't put it past them to do this (at least some of the elements in Russia's government). But it's a risky game because neither of them should desire to see the Shiite militants in Iran re-energized. So long as the coalition forces are the ones deciding when sanctions are lifted, or the UN if they agree that a theocratic state is unacceptable in Iraq, the US leverage should take precedence. France is being difficult in order to maintain their leverage with the US in who gets a piece of the action in rebuilding Iraq. And who can blame them? But a theocratic tyranny will destabilize the entire region just as much as Saddam did. We didn't fight this war merely to trade one hostile regime for another. I also believe we may need to expedite any activities aimed at subverting the hardline government in Tehran (discreetly and delicately, of course). Hawk