Dick Morris states flatly the conclusion that is increasingly undeniable in view of recent disclosures in the Oil-For-Food scandal story. France, Russia and many of the other opponents of regime change in Iraq were simply bought by Saddam. Here's an excerpt from his N.Y. Post op-ed titled "How To Buy A French Veto".
Why did France and Russia oppose efforts to topple Saddam Hussein's regime? And why did they press constantly, throughout the '90s, for an expansion of Iraqi oil sales? Was it their empathy for the starving children of that impoverished nation? Their desire to stop the United States from arrogantly imposing its vision upon the Middle East?It now looks like it was simply because they were on the take.
Here's an interview with Kenneth Timmerman that gets into more detail on the $100 billion oil lease deals that France had negotiated with Saddam, which would have gone into effect had France been able to get U.N. sanctions lifted
And I want to second the motion of Roger Simon, who has called the WSJ journalist responsible for so much of the heavy lifting on this story Claudia "Give This Woman a Pulitzer" Rosett. Just enter her last name in the search window here at Wizblog to review her reporting on this story. She is leading, and everyone else is just catching up.
Posted by dan at April 28, 2004 11:18 PM