FRANCE and Iraq

From Paris, Carmen Negrín writes "Reagan was very friendly with Saddam, the US also sold him arms. France indeed has economic interests in Iraq, but so does Spain (oil fields) and the US as well (The US worked through the Polish representation in Baghdad, according to French sources!). UN inspections seem to have been more efficient than those of the US in finding arms, so perhaps the French proposal wasn't so inefficient. ".RH: This brings up the story of US support for Saddam Hussein. At the time the US did not bring up WMD, his support for terrorists, or the barbarity of his regime. I do not understand how the US worked through the Polish representative in Baghdad, but it might explain why Poland played a prominent role in the coalition of the willing. It is not clear what "French proposal" Carmen refers to".

Ronald Hilton - 7/11/03