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DarthVeda
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My avatar! My precious!
Jan 1970
time: 00:27
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quote:
To M. Jacques Chirac
Monsieur President,
It has often been said that Americans take a short view of History. This American does not.
This American remembers that France was the first nation to recognize our Independence, in 1778.
French soldiers fought side by side with Americans in our Revolution. Without the aid of the Marquis de Lafayette, Count Rochambeau, and Admiral Comte de Grasse, we might have lost the struggle. These men are considered heroes in our country. Their names adorn our streets, our warships, and our public squares.
The treaty that sealed our Independence was signed in 1783, in Paris.
Our nations were born of the same Age of Enlightenment.
Liberté --“Give me Liberty or give me Death!”
Égalité – “all Men are created Equal”
Fraternité – E Pluribus Unum
We are spiritual siblings.
This American recalls that a French architect, Pierre L’Enfant, designed our capital city. He is buried within sight of that city, in Arlington National Cemetery.
Our largest territorial expansion occurred in 1803, when Napoléon Bonaparte sold the vast Louisiana Territory to the United States for the bargain price of 80 million francs.
This American remembers that it was a Frenchman, Alexis De Toqueville, who penned the first definitive analysis of “Democracy in America” in 1840.
Two talented Frenchmen, the sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and the architect Gustave Eiffel, designed and constructed one of our most treasured icons, the Statue of Liberty. Dedicated in 1886, it was a gift from the people of France to the people of America, acknowledging our lasting friendship.
This American recalls that in 1917, when Paris was in danger of being overrun by the Kaiser’s armies, President Woodrow Wilson sent two million men and pledged ten billion dollars to save France. Over 30,000 of those men did not return home.
Twenty-eight years later, American forces, side-by-side with Free French forces, liberated France from the scourge of Nazi occupation. Cemeteries full of tens of thousands of American soldiers who died in that struggle dot the French countryside.
This American remembers that France was present at the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949.
When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1991, French forces joined America in the coalition to reverse his unprovoked aggression. French aircraft subsequently participated in the enforcement of the no-fly zones over Southern Iraq.
After the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001, France lent material and intelligence support to the American campaign against the Al Qaeda terrorist network.
For well over two centuries, we have been friends and allies.
So how, sir, do you explain your recent behavior?
It is not unprincipled to be opposed to war. War is terrible.
But we have been in agreement, for over twelve years now, that Saddam Hussein must cooperate with the United Nations and abandon his weapons of mass destruction. Together, we passed seventeen resolutions in the Security Council demanding as much.
The last resolution, which was approved unanimously, called for “serious consequences” if Iraq failed to disarm. But the regime of Saddam Hussein continued to play games of obfuscation, denial, and deception.
We all know what “serious consequences” means, sir.
Yet, when the United States and United Kingdom presented an eighteenth resolution with concrete deadlines for compliance, you opposed it. When some of our allies expressed support for our position, you called them “infantile” and “reckless.” You actively lobbied nations in opposition to our efforts.
Had we presented a united front against Saddam Hussein, armed conflict might not have been necessary. But your intransigence has made that outcome impossible. In the process, you undermined the very foundations of NATO and the United Nations.
Your actions have grave consequences, sir. Like so many others, this American had to leave his home and family and go to war – a conflict from which over one hundred Americans will never return.
Today, in a newly liberated Iraq, we are learning the true extent of your betrayal.
Damning documents have been discovered. Reputable media outlets have reported that your government provided intelligence assistance to Saddam Hussein. This assistance allegedly included briefings covering confidential conversations between yourself and President George W. Bush.
These are not the actions of a trusted ally, much less a friend.
You, sir, have no honor.
- LT Smash
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http://www.lt-smash.us/
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My Wife Hates CIV
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Michigan
Jan 1970
time: 05:27
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Does this really surprise anyone??? I guess the question is, what do you do with something like this? Anything? Maybe just let it go.
I mean, how could you punish France? I figure just being french is bad enough for them already.
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My Wife Hates CIV
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Michigan
Jan 1970
time: 05:27
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has any of this really been verified? I saw some of this on the news yesterday... but not too much of it.
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Darius871
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Smith, Wesson, and the RODINA!!!
Mar 2002
time: 23:27
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quote:
Originally posted by Azazel
My "So what?" reply begins to surface. |
quote:
Originally posted by My Wife Hates CIV
Does this really surprise anyone??? |
It doesn't surprise me in the least, but a lot of naive people (apparently not you two nor I) thought France and Russia were against this war for mostly moral and humanitarian reasons. It's also important as it will have huge implications for our 'alliance' with France.
quote:
Originally posted by Serb
So what? Russians tried to force Saddam to cooperate with UN weapons inspecotors whom he ignored for years. And finnaly he agreed to continue cooperation.
Yeah, it's notorious. Evil, evil Russians. |
What's bad about it isn't just what they told him, but the fact that they seemed to have such an open line of communication, and their apparent concern for Saddam's best interest.
quote:
Originally posted by Serb
I feel proud. Good work KGB. |
Now wait a sec, I thought the traditional line was 'Saddam is a son of a *****, but I don't think war is the answer.' Now you are saying that you're proud of your country actively supporting him, and being a party to his oppression? Which is it gonna be?
quote:
Originally posted by Serb
Have a nice day. |
It was a DIRECT QUOTE of the London Sunday Times. I merely used a different source's reference to the LST because you can't read the original copy without a subscription. The London Sunday Times were the source, not Fox, grow up.
Last edited by Darius871 on 28-04-2003 at 18:33
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Darius871
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Smith, Wesson, and the RODINA!!!
Mar 2002
time: 23:27
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quote:
Originally posted by DAVOUT
You are not serious; telling the Iraqis on Sept 20 2001 that the Americans contemplated to go to war against Iraq was not really a betrayal : all newspapers were full of that kind of comments. |
The article clearly indicated that that was one report of several or many:
quote:
Another, dated September 25, 2001, from Naji Sabri, the Iraqi foreign minister, to Saddam's palace, was based on a briefing from the French ambassador in Baghdad and covered talks between presidents Jacques Chirac and George W Bush. |
From the way it was written it looks like the communication continued up to the beginning of the war:
quote:
The information, said in the files to have come partly from "friends of Iraq" at the French foreign ministry (search), kept Saddam abreast of every development in American planning and may have helped him to prepare for war. |
If the author used the words 'every development in American planning' to refer to a few minor murmurs back in 2001, he'd probably get in trouble. 
Besides, even if it was only the few things referred to in the article, IMO that's worth calling betrayal. I'd bet that when Bush was talking to Chirac on the telephone, he didn't expect his words to eventually be read by Saddam Hussein. That's a betrayal of trust if I've ever seen one.
Last edited by Darius871 on 29-04-2003 at 01:02
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gsmoove23
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This is ridiculous, there is no information in that article that Saddam couldn't have gleaned from the front page of the New York Times, plus there is no reason to believe that these communications are official and not from people working for the French government on the Iraqi payroll. Like that never happens in foreign ministries, please. The term "Friends of Iraq" should tip you off.
As for the Russian documents the article seems to assume that because the information came from the Iraqi embassy in Moscow that the source was Putin himself. This is childish ****, give me a break folks, foreign embassies dole out money for info all the time. I'm curious when the same paper will come out with the article on the communications from the Washington embassy, oh wait, they won't print that will they.
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28-04-2003 17:39
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