WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters) - The Defense Department said on Thursday it was scaling back U.S. participation at the Paris Air Show in what industry officials called a thinly veiled slap at France for bucking Washington on war in Iraq. "In light of current international circumstances, and the demands on DoD resources, U.S. participation in the Paris Air Show will be more limited than in previous years," said Marine Lt. Col. Michael Humm, a Pentagon spokesman. The department said it would send no one above colonel rank or its civilian equivalent to the June 15-22 event, perhaps the world's premier showcase for aerospace and related hardware. In addition, no U.S. aircraft would join the traditional daily flyovers that demonstrate performance characteristics to showgoers and weapons buyers from around the world, Humm said.
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