International Treason

Bill Gertz, the defense and intelligence reporter for the Washington Times, has just published a new book detailing the military connections between France and Saddam Hussein's Iraq. An excerpt, the first of three, appears today in the Washington Times. Gertz shows that transfers of advanced weapons and systems continued until just a few months before the US invasion.

The intelligence reports showing French assistance to Saddam ongoing in the late winter of 2002 helped explain why France refused to deal harshly with Iraq and blocked U.S. moves at the United Nations.

"No wonder the French are opposing us," one U.S. intelligence official remarked after illegal sales to Iraq of military and dual-use parts, originating in France, were discovered early last year before the war began.
[...]
France's government tightly controls its aerospace and defense firms, however, so it would be difficult to believe that the illegal transfers of equipment parts took place without the knowledge of at least some government officials.

Of course the man most responsible for France's close ties to Iraq is the present President of France, Jacques Chirac.

French aid to Iraq goes back decades and includes transfers of advanced conventional arms and components for weapons of mass destruction.

The central figure in these weapons ties is French President Jacques Chirac. His relationship with Saddam dates to 1975, when, as prime minister, the French politician rolled out the red carpet when the Iraqi strongman visited Paris.

"I welcome you as my personal friend," Chirac told Saddam, then vice president of Iraq.

The article goes on to detail the numerous, and fresh, French weapons in Iraq. Is it really any wonder why France opposed the war? And this is whom John Kerry calls our allies.