Today's top story is by Bill Gertz in the Washington Times, which begins a three-part series on the French connection. Gertz writes:

New intelligence revealing how long France continued to supply and arm Saddam Hussein's regime infuriated U.S. officials as the nation prepared for military action against Iraq.

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.

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.

Gertz's report cites chapter and verse. You should read it all; here is just a brief excerpt:

On April 8 came the downing of Air Force Maj. Jim Ewald's A-10 Thunderbolt fighter over Baghdad and the discovery that it was a French-made Roland missile that brought down the American pilot and destroyed a $13 million aircraft. Ewald, one of the first U.S. pilots shot down in the war, was rescued by members of the Army's 54th Engineer Battalion who saw him parachute to earth not far from the wreckage.

Army intelligence concluded that the French had sold the missile to the Iraqis within the past year, despite French denials.

A week after Ewald's A-10 was downed, an Army team searching Iraqi weapons depots at the Baghdad airport discovered caches of French-made missiles. One anti-aircraft missile, among a cache of 51 Roland-2s from a French-German manufacturing partnership, bore a label indicating that the batch was produced just months earlier.

In May, Army intelligence found a stack of blank French passports in an Iraqi ministry, confirming what U.S. intelligence already had determined: The French had helped Iraqi war criminals escape from coalition forces — and therefore justice.

All of this would have been different, of course, if John Kerry, with his superior charm, had occupied the White House.

UPDATE: Reader Chuck Swanson sent us the link to this 2003 Boston Globe article detailing the nuclear ties between France and Iraq. The photo below shows Jacques Chirac, wearing glasses, and Saddam Hussein, in the center, touring a French nuclear power plant in 1975.

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.powerlineblog.com/mt/mt-diespammers.cgi/7747

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Details of France-Iraq Connection Emerge:

» I don't like him when he's angry, either. from The Truth Laid Bear
"KERRY HULK SMASH PUNY BUSH!!!" Hulk Update: "Unless it not right smashing at right time. Then KERRY HULK NOT SMASH PUNY BUSH!!!" Hulk Update Some More: "When Hulk say Hulk smash, Hulk mean Hulk should have authority to smash.... [Read More]

Tracked on September 8, 2004 09:18 AM

» I don't like him when he's angry, either. from The Truth Laid Bear
"KERRY HULK SMASH PUNY BUSH!!!" Hulk Update: "Unless it not right smashing at right time. Then KERRY HULK NOT SMASH PUNY BUSH!!!" Hulk Update Some More: "When Hulk say Hulk smash, Hulk mean Hulk should have authority to smash.... [Read More]

Tracked on September 8, 2004 09:19 AM

» I don't like him when he's angry, either. from The Truth Laid Bear
"KERRY HULK SMASH PUNY BUSH!!!" Hulk Update: "Unless it not right smashing at right time. Then KERRY HULK NOT SMASH PUNY BUSH!!!" Kerry Hulk Update Some More: "When Kerry Hulk say Kerry Hulk smash, Kerry Hulk mean Kerry Hulk... [Read More]

Tracked on September 8, 2004 09:22 AM

» Round-up from Lead and Gold
[Read More]

Tracked on September 8, 2004 10:26 AM

» France connection from A Physicist's Perspective
You've got to read this on how France supplied and armed Saddam's regime into 2002. This seems to give some suggestions why they opposed military action in Iraq! Of course, this has been speculated about quite some time ago (I recall Instapundit post... [Read More]

Tracked on September 8, 2004 02:38 PM

» Is France Even an Ally of the West? from Hoosier Review
From Powerlineblog.com comes this story detailing the ties between France and Iraq. Essentially, France was selling Iraq weapons and this [Read More]

Tracked on September 8, 2004 05:12 PM

» Name An Ally, Any Ally... from Straying Thoughts
Kerry is again saying that if he were President, he would have been able to bring along other allies, enough to make an impact in the $200 billion he says we're paying for the Iraq war (which he is for [Read More]

Tracked on September 8, 2004 09:01 PM