NON-FRENCH TIRES

[Java Man]

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...
> "W K" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >But then, what has France actually done? Slowing the progress of global democracy by voicing the
> >opinion of its people?
>
> Actually, in the opinion of many, they're blocking the enforcement of a UN resolution to disarm
> Iraq that should have not been turned into a political issue. A lot of the world felt that 12
> years of non-compliance was plenty.
>
And the argument could be made that with the economic interests the French, Germans and Russians
have in Iraq, they should have abstained from any Security Council vote as they're clearly in a
conflict of interest.

Rick

 

[Alexey Merz]

Java Man <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...
> > "W K" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > >But then, what has France actually done? Slowing the progress of global democracy by voicing
> > >the opinion of its people?
> >
> > Actually, in the opinion of many, they're blocking the enforcement of a UN resolution to disarm
> > Iraq that should have not been turned into a political issue. A lot of the world felt that 12
> > years of non-compliance was plenty.
> >
> And the argument could be made that with the economic interests the French, Germans and Russians
> have in Iraq, they should have abstained from any Security Council vote as they're clearly in a
> conflict of interest.

You want prima facie conflicts of interest? How about a major architect of the US policy,
Richard Perle?

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?030331fa_fact1

(Note that despite his threat of a libel suit against the author, Perle has so far as I know
disputed none of the factual specifics of the article.)

...and:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/21/business/21GLOB.html?pagewanted=print&position=top

I especially liked this part:

"Mr. [Richard] Perle, who as chairman of the Defense Policy Board has been a leading advocate of the
United States' invasion of Iraq, spoke on Wednesday in a conference call sponsored by Goldman Sachs,
in which he advised participants on possible investment opportunities arising from the war. The
conference's title was "Implications of an Imminent War: Iraq Now. North Korea Next?"

We won't even get into Cheney, Haliburton, and no-bid contracts being issued for the reconstruction
of Iraq...

-Alex