. . . the picture of Saddam looking like some crazed werewolf may have shocked even Chirac and his foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin: Yes, boys, this is the creep you were protecting. History will also record that while the United States and Britain chose to be Saddam's prosecutors, France chose to be his defense lawyers.The New York Post is less touchy-feely. It's editorial suggests that the French (& Germans) changed their attitude as they realized that they would be shut out of all commercial opportunity in the new Iraq. But, the Post also states that the capture of Saddam had a telling effect:
Partly because the arrest of the cunning old survivor has shaken the French and German leaders' confidence that the U.S.-led liberation of Iraq would end in retreat, disaster and humiliation for the English-speaking powers and their Coalition friends.There's a lot of talk about what might come out that will embarrass the Americans (Rumsfeld's handshake, etc.), but I would guess that most of what might emerge is already in the public domain. It seems more likely to me that many other countries, including France & Germany, but also possibly Britain, might find some of what could be revealed troubling.
But mainly because both French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder are worried about the beans Saddam might spill about their countries' role in sanctions-busting, supplying Iraq with military equipment and obstructing U.N. efforts to investigate weapons of mass destruction.
And what about Ireland for that matter? Is it possible that some details might surface that would shame Garrett Fitzgerald, Dick Spring, Bertie Ahern, Albert Reynolds or others? {I'm assuming that little could come out about dealings with Iraq that would distress Charlie Haughey or Ray Burke.}
