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| Iraq |
| Man in Munich Speaks Sharply, French Surrender |
| 2003-02-09 |
| From Reuters. France Denies Secret Franco-German Iraq Plan Sun February 9, 2003 09:46 AM ET PARIS (Reuters) - The French Foreign Ministry said on Sunday there is no secret Franco-German plan to disarm Iraq, only proposals made to the U.N. Security Council by Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin to intensify weapons inspections. "France confirms that there is no secret Franco-German plan for the disarmament of Iraq," Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Bernard Valero told Reuters by telephone. "There are, on the other hand, known proposals which were announced publicly by the foreign minister in the Security Council on February 5, aimed at reinforcing the United Nations inspection programs." This is in reference to yesterday's Der Spiegel article about a UN occupation of Iraq, keeping Saddam in power while thousands of inspectors in blue helmets play Keystone Kops music |
| Posted by:John Bragg |
| #8 The euro-crats have made it clear that they cannot tolerate and will stop at nothing to see that their enemy is stopped before it can take the kind of decisive swift action that will cost them both prestige and power. Who's their enemy?, its us. Saddam and the rest of worlds tyrants have nothing to fear from the europeans. They are too busy stopping the big bad USA to put a stop to the forces of evil. |
| Posted by: Frank Martin 2003-02-09 22:03:57 |
| #7 An incredibly bad plan, if you want Sammy disarmed. If, on the other hand, you'd like a chance to clean up the traces of your governmental involvement in sanction-busting as well as set a trigger force in place. "Lightly armed" - that means no armor, guys. A bad situation waiting to happen. Or happen again - anybody remember Somalia? Oh, and dishman - they're no longer Colin's troops. They work for Don Rumsfeld. |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-02-09 22:03:01 |
| #6 Colin Powell could get away with rejecting it, not as Secretary of State, but as Colin Powell. "I could not in good conscience order my soldiers to perform that mission." |
| Posted by: Dishman 2003-02-09 21:04:51 |
| #5 We will have to take the major role in any UN military action in Iraq. No one else has the logistics or the men. It'll be our guys under some Frog general. Hah, like that will ever happen! |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-02-09 20:49:06 |
| #4 At the UN, we will never get what we want in a resolution. France's position on how to deal with Iraq is ulterior motives at its worst. They have seen the evidence and they are playing footsie with Saddam for their own political and economic benefit. We can play all kinds of games with them, but if the Blue Hats get in there, our goals of reforming Iraq will go down the drain. I am very worried about this little game of France's. Do we have any good juice on them to shut down their dirty little game, or dow we take the heat and go and do what is right? If we appease these slimes, we are going to get it back in spades from Saddam or one of his chem/bio licensees. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-02-09 20:43:59 |
| #3 The British papers are taking this initiative quite seriously. It looks like a proposal will be made on 2/14 by the French and Germans. The question is whether it is merely tripling the inspectors + U2 flights, or involves a tough sounding, coercive inspections regime (blue helmets, etc.). If the latter, Blair will pay a huge political price for rejecting it. So will Bush for that matter. This puts the French in the drivers seat. They either get their way -- making France a big player and isolating the US as the warmonger -- or weaken the leaders of the coalition politically by providing a credible-sounding alternative to war. In either case, they ingratiate themselves to the Axis of Evil. I think we should coopt this initiative and insist on a role in the UN force, essentially making it a mandate to occupy Iraq. |
| Posted by: JAB 2003-02-09 20:16:59 |
| #2 My guess:Someone in the German Foreign Ministry wanted to derail the plan by leaking it to Der Spiegel.Maybe there are friends out there after all. |
| Posted by: El Id 2003-02-09 18:22:02 |
| #1 It depends what the meaning of "is" is. Or "secret". Now that it's been leaked... |
| Posted by: someone 2003-02-09 17:46:10 |