Saturday, August 19, 2006
To hell with France
I just finished reading The French Betrayal of America, by veteran investigative reporter Ken Timmerman. In this powerful book, Timmerman uncovers the ugly details of France's corrupt bargaining in world affairs; and he makes a compelling case that France can no longer be considered an American ally. Ned "Cut 'N' Run" Lamont, John "Droopy" Kerry and the rest of the fools in the Democratic Party who think that France should have a veto over U.S. foreign policy should read this book -- twice.
During the diplomatic haggling in the run-up to Gulf War II, the French flat-out lied to the United States. According to Timmerman's sources, Jacques Chirac assured the United States that France would support the U.S. when the decision was made to go to war. This is what "gave the president the confidence to keep sending Colin Powell back to the U.N." According to a source familiar with the conversations Bush had with Chirac, "They also explain why the administration has been going after the French so aggressively ever since. They lied."
Timmerman also reports how French business and government worked for decades to develop deep ties to Iraq and to benefit from Saddam Hussein's regime. Deals were negotiated that would provide billions "to the French state owned-oil company Total and huge kickbacks to the French politicians who greased the skids," Timmerman reports. As it turns out those protest signs barking "No War for Oil" are right on the mark - it had become official French policy.
Timmerman, who worked as a journalist in France for 18 years, demonstrates in striking detail how France morphed into an exceedingly corrupt corporate state: fascism with a friendly face. The French willingness to put its corporatist interests above all other concerns resulted in their encouraging Saddam Hussein to wipe out the Marsh Arabs at the behest of French contractors. The French refused to send engineers into an area where they might be kidnapped, "so they suggested that the Iraqis 'clean up' the area ahead of time," Timmerman reports. The Iraqis did just that and "some three hundred thousand marsh Arabs were sent into forced exile in Iran, their way of life gone forever."
During the diplomatic haggling in the run-up to Gulf War II, the French flat-out lied to the United States. According to Timmerman's sources, Jacques Chirac assured the United States that France would support the U.S. when the decision was made to go to war. This is what "gave the president the confidence to keep sending Colin Powell back to the U.N." According to a source familiar with the conversations Bush had with Chirac, "They also explain why the administration has been going after the French so aggressively ever since. They lied."
Timmerman also reports how French business and government worked for decades to develop deep ties to Iraq and to benefit from Saddam Hussein's regime. Deals were negotiated that would provide billions "to the French state owned-oil company Total and huge kickbacks to the French politicians who greased the skids," Timmerman reports. As it turns out those protest signs barking "No War for Oil" are right on the mark - it had become official French policy.
Timmerman, who worked as a journalist in France for 18 years, demonstrates in striking detail how France morphed into an exceedingly corrupt corporate state: fascism with a friendly face. The French willingness to put its corporatist interests above all other concerns resulted in their encouraging Saddam Hussein to wipe out the Marsh Arabs at the behest of French contractors. The French refused to send engineers into an area where they might be kidnapped, "so they suggested that the Iraqis 'clean up' the area ahead of time," Timmerman reports. The Iraqis did just that and "some three hundred thousand marsh Arabs were sent into forced exile in Iran, their way of life gone forever."
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Saturday, August 19, 2006 
