France Briefed Iraq on American Intentions

London’s Sunday Times reports that “France gave Saddam Hussein’s regime regular reports on its dealings with US officials….The conservative British weekly said the information kept Saddam abreast of every development in US planning and may have helped him to prepare for war.”
This link is to a summary of the Times article, since the Times requires registration. The Times account is based on “files it had found in the wreckage of the Iraqi foreign ministry.” I still think it’s very strange that newspapers have access to Iraqi government buildings and apparently are able to paw through files in search of stories. I don’t know, maybe it’s a good thing–but very odd.