By ,
Published April 11, 2018
According to reports in The Washington Post, the French government believes it is the victim of an "organized campaign of disinformation" from within the Bush administration, designed to discredit it with allegations of complicity with the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein.
In a letter prepared for delivery today to administration officials and members of Congress, France details what it says are false news stories, with anonymous administration officials as sources, that appeared in the U.S. media over the past nine months.
A two-page list attached to the letter includes reports of alleged French weapons sales (search) to Iraq and culminates in a report last week that French officials in Syria issued French passports to escaping Iraqis being sought by the U.S. military.
French whine: Sour grapes, or right to gripe?
A sample of your responses:
The French are trying to rewrite history. Have they forgotten that the stories they are complaining about came from documents that independent journalists discovered in the Iraqi Information Ministry and not leaks from the Pentagon?
Keith C.
It's fairly easy to analyze the motives of the French in their attempts to keep the Iraqi regime in power and, failing that, place further roadblocks in the way of the coalition in rebuilding Iraq and bringing relief to the Iraqi people. Besides the obvious shady business deals the French had with Sadaam and his thugs...i.e. the oil contracts and military assistance, France is trying to reestablish it's image as a world power; something they haven't had since Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo. Since they are no longer a colonial empire, they are attempting to assert their "authority" using the only weapon they have to claim any status as a "superpower"; their veto in the UN Security Council. We went to the Security Council in an attempt to gain UN approval for the attack on Iraq, and then went ahead with our plans without that approval. We can and will do the same in the reconstruction effort, including ignoring the sanctions. Perhaps while we and most of the rest of the world are rebuilding Iraq, the French should target their efforts at rebuilding Chirac.
Larry M.
Concerning today's question, I have had my doubts with the French for quite some time. When they came forward and declared they would veto any resolution sight unseen, I intuitively knew that there was a conflict of interest there. I feel that the French, Russian and German UN Ambassadors should have stepped down during these crucial talks before the war began.
As a loyal US citizen, I'm appalled by the French's behavior. The fact that France provided Saddam Hussein with confidential talks between the US and themselves is inexcusable. I feel they should be asked to leave the UN.
Laura
Rochester, MI
The French place their own financial interests over the lives and health of the Iraqi people. They did everything they could to undermine and sabotage the war to liberate the Iraqis from an extremely brutal and murderous tyrant. Now they are more concerned about protecting their financial interests in Iraqi oil than removing the sanctions to allow Iraq to return the country to a healthy successful place to live.Now that we are finding all these mass graves and evidence from prisons, we can see that the French were supporting and even protecting Saddam Hussein's regime while these atrocities were being committed.
John A.
Austin, TX
Vive-la-boycott!
Richard B.
Cherryville, NC
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