January 28, 2004
It seems that there was more to the French government's opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq than simple disagreement.
Documents from Saddam Hussein's oil ministry reveal he used oil to bribe top French officials into opposing the imminent U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
If this doesn't make the rest of the E.U. sit up and take notice, then they deserve to be "in bed" with France.
The oil ministry papers, described by the independent Baghdad newspaper al-Mada, are apparently authentic and will become the basis of an official investigation by the new Iraqi Governing Council, the Independent reported Wednesday.
Such evidence would undermine the French position before the war when President Jacques Chirac sought to couch his opposition to the invasion on a moral high ground.
The moral high ground just turned into a sinkhole. Instead of making "political hay" with this bombshell, the official response from Washington was refreshingly humble:
A senior Bush administration official said Washington was aware of the reports but refused further comment.
Instead of rubbing the upturned little French noses in this damning revelation, the administration has chosen to let the news speak for itself. We all pray the French people are listening, but it seems that they are in complete denial:
French diplomats have dismissed any suggestion their foreign policy was influenced by payments from Saddam, but some European diplomats have long suspected France's steadfast opposition to the war was less moral than monetary.
I think I liked the French better back when there were wimps hiding behind principle.
"Oil runs thicker than blood," is how one former ambassador put his suspicions about the French motives for opposing action against Saddam.
