Seeing ole Jacques' fetching outfit in the previous post reminded us of French and Germans in £1.7bn trade with Iraq
The figures show that since 1997, France and Germany have exported goods worth more than £1.7 billion to Iraq, compared to British exports worth £193 million.And William Safire continues holding the Frenchies' feet to the fire for their arming of Saddam's terror regime in French Connection II:
Government sources claimed France and Germany interpreted UN sanctions more liberally than Britain.
While British companies were restricted to preserving existing Iraqi contracts, their French and German counterparts were allowed to seek out new business.
When Christiane Amanpour asked President Jacques Chirac about it on CBS's "60 Minutes," he replied: "Because The New York Times is a serious newspaper, as soon as I read this I ordered an inquiry. I can now confirm officially, after an inquiry by the French foreign ministry, France and French companies have never endorsed or even provided such material to Iraq. So I am clearly denying this allegation."Geez, you'd think Jacques was a lying whore.
Mr. Chirac knows more than I do about trade with Iraq: in the late 1970's, he facilitated France's multibillion-dollar sale of the Osirak nuclear reactor to the rising Saddam. (After Iraq officially stated that the reactor's purpose was not to incinerate Tehran but "to eliminate Zionism," Israel destroyed it.)
Let me supply Mr. Chirac with some documentation that the Inspector Clouseau in his foreign ministry cannot find.
Our Euroweenie pals are even going to get a bennie from the war itself as Mark Landler from the NY Times relates in For France and Germany, the benefits of war:
As the war that so bitterly divided Europe finally got underway, Europeans spent Thursday debating how it might affect their economies, with some experts noting that France and Germany could end up benefiting most from the conflict they opposed.To paraphrase the old joke, "We know what they are, but we're just establishing the price."
Soon after the bombing began, a senior European Commission official declared that the war qualified as an "exceptional circumstance," which could free France and Germany from the strict limits on budget deficits they agreed to as members of Europe's monetary union. Both countries have breached those limits and face stiff fines if they do not bring their finances back into line.
