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| Iraq |
| IRAQ STRENGTHENS AIR FORCE WITH FRENCH PARTS |
| 2003-03-07 |
| A French company has been selling spare parts to Iraq for its fighter jets and military helicopters during the past several months, according to U.S. intelligence officials. The unidentified company sold the parts to a trading company in the United Arab Emirates, which then shipped the parts through a third country into Iraq by truck. The spare parts included goods for Iraq's French-made Mirage F-1 jets and Gazelle attack helicopters. An intelligence official said the illegal spare-parts pipeline was discovered in the past two weeks and that sensitive intelligence about the transfers indicates that the parts were smuggled to Iraq as recently as January. Other intelligence reports indicate that Iraq had succeeded in acquiring French weaponry illegally for years, the official said. The parts appear to be included in an effort by the Iraqi military to build up materiel for its air forces before any U.S. military action, which could occur before the end of the month. The officials identified the purchaser of the parts as the Al Tamoor Trading Co., based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. A spokesman for the company could not be reached for comment. The French military parts were then sent by truck into Iraq from a neighboring country the officials declined to identify. Iraq has more than 50 Mirage F-1 jets and an unknown number of Gazelle attack helicopters, according to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. An administration official said the French parts transfers to Iraq may be one reason France has so vehemently opposed U.S. plans for military action against Iraq. "No wonder the French are opposing us," this official said. The official, however, said intelligence reports of the parts sale did not indicate that the activity was sanctioned by the French government or that Paris knows about the transfers. The intelligence reports did not identify the French company involved in selling the aircraft parts or whether the parts were new or used. The Mirage F-1 was made by France's Dassault Aviation. Gazelle helicopters were made by Aerospatiale, which later became part of a consortium of European defense companies. The importation of military goods by Iraq is banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions passed since the 1991 Persian Gulf war. Nathalie Loiseau, press counselor at the French Embassy, said her government has no information about the spare-parts smuggling and has not been approached by the U.S. government about the matter. "We fully comply with the U.N. sanctions, and there is no sale of any kind of military material or weapons to Iraq," she said. A senior administration official declined to discuss Iraq's purchase of French warplane and helicopter parts. "It is well known that the Iraqis use front companies to try to obtain a number of prohibited items," the official said. The disclosure comes amid heightened anti-French sentiment in the United States over Paris' opposition to U.S. plans for using force to disarm Iraq. A senior defense official said France undermined U.S. efforts to disarm Iraq last year by watering down language of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441 that last fall required Iraq to disarm all its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs. France, along with Russia, Germany and China, said yesterday that they would block a joint U.S.-British U.N. resolution on the use of force against Iraq. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told reporters in Paris on Wednesday that France "will not allow a resolution to pass that authorizes resorting to force. Russia and France, as permanent members of the Security Council, will assume their full responsibilities on this point." France has been Iraq's best friend in the West. French arms sales to Baghdad were boosted in the 1970s under Premier Jacques Chirac, the current president. Mr. Chirac once called Saddam Hussein a "personal friend." During the 1980s, when Paris backed Iraq in its war against Iran, France sold Mirage fighter bombers and Super Entendard aircraft to Baghdad, along with Exocet anti-ship missiles. French-Iraqi ties soured after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait that led to the 1991 Persian Gulf war. France now has an estimated $4 billion in debts owed to it by Iraq as a result of arms sales and infrastructure construction projects. The debt is another reason U.S. officials believe France is opposing military force to oust Saddam. Henry Sokolski, director of the private Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, said French transfers of military equipment to Iraq would have "an immediate and relevant military consequence, if this was done." "The United States with its allies are going to suppress the Iraqi air force and air defense very early on in any conflict, and it's regrettable that the French have let a company complicate that mission," Mr. Sokolski said. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell last month released intelligence information showing videotape of an Iraqi F-1 Mirage that had been modified to spray anthrax spores. A CIA report to Congress made public in January stated that Iraq has aggressively sought advanced conventional arms. "A thriving gray-arms market and porous borders have allowed Baghdad to acquire smaller arms and components for larger arms, such as spare parts for aircraft, air defense systems, and armored vehicles," the CIA stated. Iraq also has obtained some military goods through the U.N.-sponsored oil-for-food program. A second CIA report in October on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction stated: "Iraq imports goods using planes, trains, trucks, and ships without any type of international inspections â in violation of UN Security Council resolutions." |
| Posted by:ISHMAIL |
| #18 While they might not be embarassed about our finding "Made in France" stamped all over most of the Iraqi weapons... They might be worse than embarassed if Saddam used one of those weapons inside the US as he has threatened to do. We might think them unfriendly. Depends on how much dirt there really is. Chiraq's "personal friendship" would get far, far more attention than it already has. |
| Posted by: Dishman 2003-03-07 14:12:33 |
| #17 ...they don't want war because they don't want anybody to find out. I have a hard time believing this. I don't think Chirac personally or the French generally would be greatly embarrassed to be found selling the Iraqis anything up to and including nukes. Oh, yeah, it might cause a ruckus that would take a while to smooth over, but they wouldn't actually feel any shame for it. It's nothin' personal, it's just business... |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2003-03-07 13:12:23 |
| #16 The French are totally opposed to a deadline. Do they know something we don't know? Sounds to me like they already know that Saddam will not disarm. As open a defense of Iraq as could be achieved. Angry may not be the right term. Rage? |
| Posted by: john 2003-03-07 12:46:36 |
| #15 I don't get it. Why are the froggies so opposed to a deadline. Now DeVillepin is calling for a meeting of the heads of state of the UNSC. I don't like the way this is headed. We waited too long. Wouldn't be surprised if there was some military intervention on the part of the weasels. Bastards. |
| Posted by: RW 2003-03-07 12:37:47 |
| #14 Speak for yourself, John -- some of us ARE still angry with France. "tu3031" is right: F**k the Frogs. As far as I'm concerned, they can recall their ambassador to Washington back to Paris for good. |
| Posted by: Tom 2003-03-07 12:16:16 |
| #13 Rex: they don't want war because they don't want anybody to find out. Those traitor bastards. Kick them out of NATO, let them forge their own alliances with the likes of Syria, Iran, & N.Korea. Perhaps Chiraq can find a new friend in Kim. I like what Bush said yesterday, to bring the 2nd res. to vote and let the member states "show" where they stand. F'em. Talk about hypocrisy. Syria is complaining about Israel having WMD, but it was France who helped them develop their first reactor. Next came Iraq. What a bunch of hypocrites. |
| Posted by: RW 2003-03-07 11:47:25 |
| #12 Why am I not surprised, And what else, pray tell, have our amphibian friends been selling.......hmmmmmmmmm? |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2003-03-07 11:31:23 |
| #11 From the santafe new mexican: Belgian Foreign Minister Says France Has 'saved' Europe's Honor France has "saved the honor of Europe" by taking the lead in seeking a peaceful solution to the Iraq crisis, Belgium's foreign minister said Friday, adding that U.S.-European ties must be reforged to reflect what has transpired. "We have followed totally our French friends because we think that what thdey have done is, in a certain manner I think, to save the honor of Europe," Louis Michel said on France-Inter radio. He spoke hours before the chief U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq present the U.N. Security Council with their latest progress report. Europe, the Belgian minister said, "cannot always be a follower .... This abscess had to be pierced."... ---------- So says the Nato proxy. Try and save your unelected technocrats, you pinstripe pinheads. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-03-07 11:24:53 |
| #10 Looks like the Iranian Air Force will be getting some upgraded planes and attack helicopters soon. F**k the Frogs. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-03-07 11:04:45 |
| #9 You mean (gasp!) France has an ulterior (profit) motive to their diplomacy? You mean (gasp!) they aren't doing what they do from a sense of moral and ethical behavior? Horrors! Mon Dieu! Right now the only nice thing I can say about France (yes, Pierre, I HAVE been there)is that they appreciate the Three Stooges (Les Tres Imbeciles). After seeing their politicians and the way their government is run, I realize that maybe they have based their society on old Larry Moe and Curly Joe re-runs. |
| Posted by: John 2003-03-07 08:43:11 |
| #8 here's the link |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-03-07 08:29:26 |
| #7 IRAQ and CHIRAC? |
| Posted by: mous 2003-03-07 08:19:27 |
| #6 Your link is bouggered up. |
| Posted by: Tom Roberts 2003-03-07 08:18:07 |
| #5 I'm trying to figure out the big deal. The French are known for growing grapes, eating snails, losing wars, abandoning colonies and inventing the guillotine. Hopefully they will continue selling [Mirage] parts to Iraq as it will allow us to be more cost-effective in the utilization of ammunition. After this war is over, and the oil is pumping, we will remember those who stepped forward and those who hid under the nearest stone. |
| Posted by: HC 2003-03-07 08:01:21 |
| #4 Ishmail, we are no longer angry. We are just going to get even. great post |
| Posted by: john 2003-03-07 06:50:53 |
| #3 'IRAQ' and CHIRAC. During an emergency European Union meeting in Brussels, [Jacques Chirac] called the ex-Communist countries of "New Europe" (Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Croatia and Albania) "infantile" for siding with the United States. Now they have a new pet name in Warsaw for the French president: Jacques Brezhnev. Mr. Chirac's berating of Poland and other central European countries for signing a pro-American letter in the midst of the Iraq crisis has notâto put it mildlyâgone down well. Whatever, it is becoming clearer with time that France would not be France if its president did not occasionally try to puncture the grandiosity of America. The French claim they are fighting for peace and taking the moral high ground by attempting to block support for Americaâs campaign to eliminate Saddam Hussein. This all lies. The reality is that France has been in bed with the genocidal Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein for decades. Moreover, to understand the details of French behaviour, it is also important to understand a not 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 travelled 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 a return visit in September of 1975, Hussein went 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 reactorsâ. France sold two reactors to Iraq, with the agreement signed during Hussein's visit. 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. During all this period, Chirac and Hussein formed what Chirac has unashamedly termed as close personal relationship. The New York Times described 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." That might be an entirely different matter that Mr Jacques Chirac has career beset with allegations of scandal. As a young man in post-war Paris, Jacque Chirac dreamed of visiting the US and in 1953, he spent a summer at Harvard University. At weekends, he worked as a "soda jerk" at a Howard Johnson's restaurant, where he met and fell in love with 18-year-old Florence Herlihy from South Carolina. He has recalled how she called him "honey child", while Florence, tracked down by a French magazine, and remembers him as a wonderful kisser. Coming back France has massive investments in Iraq (and made a fortune out of the U.N. oil-for-food program). They know that a successor regime will might not honor contracts made by Saddam. For a long time, France has been taking blood money from one of the worst dictators on earth, and now they becoming guardians of morality. Paris is in fact a charter member of the âAxis of Weaselâ and the French donât care that their efforts not only may cause American men and women to die needlessly but also put millions in the U.S. and throughout the world at risk of a new wave of terrorist attacks, as long as they can protect their blood money. Franceâs long âhate Americaâ campaign whether it is supporting terrorist-abetting Cuban dictator Fidel Castro or nosily denouncing U.S. capital punishment, France seldom passes up an opportunity to oppose America in the United Nations and elsewhere. The sad reality is that current French leaders envy and hate America for our power and wealth. While America has been prospering, France (along with much of Western Europe) remains deeply mired in economic stagnation created by a failed socialist economy and myopic leaders. Franceâs new âhate Americaâ campaign is particularly despicable when considering the history of American aid to France: - When Germany threatened France during World War I, American infantryman came to the rescue. - Thirty years later, again when Nazi Germany conquered France and her people became subjugated, tens of thousands of Americans gave their lives to defeat their German conquerors and free France. - After World War II, France was one of the largest recipients of the U.S. Marshall Plan, which saved the French from destitution and reconstructed their economy. - Again, when the Soviet Union threatened Europe during the Cold War, for over more than forty years the American nuclear shield again protected France from Soviet conquest. Again and again, America has saved France from political annihilation and slavery. Instead of appreciation, repeatedly the US has received depreciatory put-downs: - When America went had to go against Castro during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the French refused to side with the US. - When President Reagan bombed Ghaddafi and Libya for backing terrorism that killed American soldiers, the French rejected to allow US bombers to cross its airspace. The Chairman of the Pentagonâs Policy Advisory Board Richard Perle comprehends: "France is no longer the ally it once was. I have long thought that there were forces in France intent on reducing the American role in the world." If it were not for the heroic efforts of America's military, France, Germany and Belgium today would be Soviet socialist republics. The failure of these three states to honor their commitments is contemptible. So fanatical is French President Jacques Chirac's jealousy and hatred of America that even his fellow Europeans are now expressing outrage at his implication that France would block now independent former Soviet satellites from joining the European Union because they are too "pro-American." "They missed a good opportunity to keep quiet," Chirac huffed, and went on to claim that those who support America were "childish and irresponsible." Whatever personal chemistry he might have with Saddam it obviously has remained in place a decade later and clearly not simply linked to the deals of 1974-75. Politicians and busi-nessmen move on; they do not linger the way Chirac has. In politics and business, you can be friendly, but never friends. But then what do you call a Frenchman advancing on Baghdad? A salesman⦠|
| Posted by: ISHMAIL 2003-03-07 03:58:40 |
| #2 I guess then the US Air Force will wind up being the world's largest distrubutor of Mirage parts. |
| Posted by: badanov 2003-03-07 01:44:41 |
| #1 I guess then the US Air Force will wind up being the world's largest distrubutor of Mirage parts. |
| Posted by: badanov 3/7/2003 1:44:41 AM |