| France, Germany and Russia's interests in the Iraq conflict
- Click HERE for Original Thread
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| manus1980 |
I'm unable to view the article. Is it about how those countires are just persuing their own investments in Iraq? Does it mention Germany's weapon sales to Sadam and the Frenches' huge oil investments?
They are so hipocritical. If this war was about oil, we would have already taken over the oil fields after putting out Sadam's fires during D1. Did anyone pay attention to the pro-American march in NY today made up of 100,000+ Iraqi Americans? |
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| laborlitigator |
| Come on guys. . . the French and Germans are "peace loving" nations who are only out for the interest of the world. They'd never be motivated by any monetary intent. . . . of course not. :drool: |
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| greatscot |
I hear on the news a call for a boycott on all things French. Things like "french" fries, "french" wine, but they did'nt say if that includes french kissing  |
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| marktr6 |
Greatscot,
You will have to give up french kissing until this conflict is over and you will also have to turn in your French Ticklers.
You got me to thinking about all the "French" things we will have to give up. Maybe we should start a new post under the humor section for French, German, Russian, and possibly Chinese "items" that will now be banned. The few French ones I thought of are:
French Bread
French Toast
French Vanilla Ice Cream
French Doors in your home.
French Horns in orchestras
Evian Bottled Water |
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| hammermdx |
| And French Fires, even though I think they originated in Belgium and let's not forget about French Wine too :cool: |
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| ByeByeChrysler |
| French Onion Soup |
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| greatscot |
Thanks marktr6,
That's quite a list. Think about this one, Lance Armstrong is poised to win his 5th straight Tour De France. Hmmmm. I wonder if he'll boycott the race this year.
The Evian water is no problem , I'm the HR and Risk Manager for a national Warehousing and Distribution Co. Among the many types of products we warehouse and distribute, is bottled water for Pepsi-Aquafina.
Other French things to avoid include French made bicycles, actually they are rubbish anyway, as the Italians make very nice ones, and so do we for that matter, like Cannondale, Trek, Specialized, Giant.
Heck, I think we'll survive very well without the French in our lives. |
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| Mike_Platini |
Actually, the German Prime Minister Gerald Schröder has been receiving a lot of pressure from German Productors Association. The reason: If Americans decided to boycott only 10% of the German imported products (to the States), then the Germany GDP would decrease by 1% !!! It's a LOT.
:1: |
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| laborlitigator |
quote:
Originally posted by Mike_Platini
Actually, the German Prime Minister Gerald Schröder has been receiving a lot of pressure from German Productors Association. The reason: If Americans decided to boycott only 10% of the German imported products (to the States), then the Germany GDP would decrease by 1% !!! It's a LOT.
:1:
Sorry, I can't give up my bimmers!:p |
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| phins2rt |
quote:
Originally posted by greatscot
Other French things to avoid include French made bicycles, actually they are rubbish anyway, as the Italians make very nice ones, and so do we for that matter, like Cannondale, Trek, Specialized, Giant.
Heck, I think we'll survive very well without the French in our lives.
But I really love my Look pedals and my Look fork. Luckily, I shouldn't need to be purchasing anything new this year.:2: |
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| ByeByeChrysler |
| French Maid (outfit) |
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| jonnygoodboy |
I heard someone on the radio saying that since the French detest our food, removing the word "French" from stuff like "French Fries" and "Stouffer's French Bread Pizza" would be far from insulting to them.
It would be better to start adding the word "French" to foods that best epitomize all that the French detest about American food. Turn corn dogs into corn Frenchies, McNuggets into French Chicken, etc.
They'd see the light faster than you can eat a Big Jacque. :) |
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| manus1980 |
quote:
Originally posted by jonnygoodboy
I heard someone on the radio saying that since the French detest our food, removing the word "French" from stuff like "French Fries" and "Stouffer's French Bread Pizza" would be far from insulting to them.
It would be better to start adding the word "French" to foods that best epitomize all that the French detest about American food. Turn corn dogs into corn Frenchies, McNuggets into French Chicken, etc.
They'd see the light faster than you can eat a Big Jacque. :)
How about turning French Fries into Surrender Tators. |
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| xcel |
Hi Jonnygoodboy and Manus1980:
___You guys are too funny :19:
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
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| manus1980 |
| I still have a box of Desert Storm trading cards from 1991. I have; Powell's rookie card, Bush Senior, and all the generals, tanks, jets, and ships. Anyone else remember these trading cards? |
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| TheWorm |
Courtesy of catbert on the Pilot board:
"Going to war without France is like going duck hunting without your accordion." Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense
"As far as I'm concerned, war always means failure." Jacques Chirac, President of France "As far as France is concerned, you're right." Rush Limbaugh
"They've taken their own precautions against al-Qa'ida. To prepare for an attack, each Frenchman is urged to keep duct tape, a white flag, and a three-day supply of mistresses in the house." Argus Hamilton
"Somebody was telling me about the French Army rifle that was being advertised on eBay the other day -- the description was, 'Never shot. Dropped once.'" Rep. Roy Blunt (MO)
"The French will only agree to go to war when we've proven we've found truffles in Iraq." Dennis Miller
"What do you expect from a culture and a nation that exerted more of its national will fighting against DisneyWorld and Big Macs than the Nazis?" Dennis Miller
Raise your right hand if you like the French . raise both hands if you are French.
"You know why the French don't want to bomb Saddam Hussein? Because he hates Americans, he loves mistresses and wears a beret. He is French, people." Conan O'Brien
"I don't know why people are surprised the French don't want to help us get Saddam out of Iraq. After all, France wouldn't help us get the Germans out of France." Jay Leno
Q. What did the mayor of Paris say to the German Army as they entered the city in WWII?
A. Table for 100,000 m'sieur?
"The last time the French ask for 'more proof' it came marching into Paris under a German flag." David Letterman
"Do you know how many Frenchmen it takes to defend Paris? It's not known, it's never been tried." Rep. R. Blount (MO)
"Do you know it only took Germany three days to conquer France in WWII? And that's because it was raining." John Xereas, Manager, DC Improv.
"It is important to remember that the French have always been there when they needed us." Alan Kent |
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| ByeByeChrysler |
REASONS FOR BEING FRENCH
* When speaking fast you can make yourself sound gay.
* Experience the joy of winning the world cup for the first time.
* You get to eat insect food like snails and frog's legs.
* If there's a war you can surrender really early.
* You don't have to read the subtitles on those late night films on TV.
* You can test your own nuclear weapons in other people's countries.
* You can be ugly and still become a famous film star.
* Allow Germans to march up and down your most famous street humiliating your sense of national pride.
* You don't have to bother with toilets, just sh1t in the street.
* People think you're a great lover even when you're not. |
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| greatscot |
quote:
Originally posted by TheWorm
Courtesy of catbert on the Pilot board:
"Going to war without France is like going duck hunting without your accordion." Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense
"As far as I'm concerned, war always means failure." Jacques Chirac, President of France "As far as France is concerned, you're right." Rush Limbaugh
"They've taken their own precautions against al-Qa'ida. To prepare for an attack, each Frenchman is urged to keep duct tape, a white flag, and a three-day supply of mistresses in the house." Argus Hamilton
"Somebody was telling me about the French Army rifle that was being advertised on eBay the other day -- the description was, 'Never shot. Dropped once.'" Rep. Roy Blunt (MO)
"The French will only agree to go to war when we've proven we've found truffles in Iraq." Dennis Miller
"What do you expect from a culture and a nation that exerted more of its national will fighting against DisneyWorld and Big Macs than the Nazis?" Dennis Miller
Raise your right hand if you like the French . raise both hands if you are French.
"You know why the French don't want to bomb Saddam Hussein? Because he hates Americans, he loves mistresses and wears a beret. He is French, people." Conan O'Brien
"I don't know why people are surprised the French don't want to help us get Saddam out of Iraq. After all, France wouldn't help us get the Germans out of France." Jay Leno
Q. What did the mayor of Paris say to the German Army as they entered the city in WWII?
A. Table for 100,000 m'sieur?
"The last time the French ask for 'more proof' it came marching into Paris under a German flag." David Letterman
"Do you know how many Frenchmen it takes to defend Paris? It's not known, it's never been tried." Rep. R. Blount (MO)
"Do you know it only took Germany three days to conquer France in WWII? And that's because it was raining." John Xereas, Manager, DC Improv.
"It is important to remember that the French have always been there when they needed us." Alan Kent
Add this one:
The reason the French planted trees along the Champs De Eylesee is so the Germans could march in the shade |
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| hammermdx |
quote:
Originally posted by greatscot
Add this one:
The reason the French planted trees along the Champs De Eylesee is so the Germans could march in the shade
greatscot,
You crack me up!
;) |
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| TheWorm |
quote:
Originally posted by greatscot
Add this one:
The reason the French planted trees along the Champs De Eylesee is so the Germans could march in the shade
:22: |
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| hockeyplayer |
| oh....puhlease throw in "frenchie" from American Idol into the boycott. |
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| laborlitigator |
| This is funny |
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| cardingtr |
quote:
Originally posted by laborlitigator
This is funny
This should be in "french babes" section.:D |
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| catbert |
quote:
Originally posted by greatscot
Add this one:
The reason the French planted trees along the Champs De Eylesee is so the Germans could march in the shade
I'm going to insert this one into my post over on the Pilot board. Thanks!!!:D |
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| TheWorm |
| This one courtesy of PrG: |
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| marktr6 |
Got this email today and thought I'd share it.
SEVERE EARTHQUAKE IN FRANCE
March 14, 2003.
Today it was reported that a severe earthquakes have
occurred in 10 different locations in France. The severity was measured in excess of 10 on the Richter Scale. The cause was the 56,681 dead American soldiers buried in French soil rolling over in their graves. According to the American Battle Monuments Commission there are 26,255 Yankee dead from World War I buried in 4 cemeteries in France. There are 30,426 American
dead from World War II buried in 6 cemeteries in France. These 56,681 brave American heroes died in their youth to liberate a country which is guilty of shameful unspeakable behavior in the 21st century. May the United States of America never forget their sacrifice as we find ways to forcefully deal with the Godforsaken unappreciative, forgetful country of France!
PASS THIS AROUND! Maybe it will get to someone in France!!! |
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| laborlitigator |
quote:
Originally posted by manus1980
How about turning French Fries into Surrender Tators.
Manus. . . i love that! |
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| laborlitigator |
| At the restaurant "Johnny Rockets" they're now called American fries! |
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| TheWorm |
Quick snippet from an SF Chronicle article on war planning:
quote:
In fact, the BBC reported Monday, a small contingent of bedraggled Iraqi soldiers -- their worn-out shoes held together with duct tape -- already tried to surrender to British marines. The marines fed them, and sent the Iraqis on their way, for now.
So, France's ties w/Iraq are pretty much confirmed: they've been training Iraq's military!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/artic...18/STRATEGY.TMP |
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| laborlitigator |
| Doesn't surprise me, the way they lied down for the Nazis |
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| catbert |
| just got this one... |
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| laborlitigator |
| If that ever happened, the French would probably offer Osama asylum. . . |
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| Warzau |
quote:
Originally posted by greatscot
I hear on the news a call for a boycott on all things French. Things like "french" fries, "french" wine, but they did'nt say if that includes french kissing
A little late to this thread but re french kissing, you can call it as Barbara Walters once refered to it as "Soul Kissing":eek: |
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| vicpai |
quote:
Originally posted by catbert
just got this one...
.....so friggin appropriate!! ......sums up the whole enchilado in a nutshell! :29: |
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| laborlitigator |
THE French-led resistance at the Security Council has flopped and potential French, Russian and Chinese vetoes are now non-issues. Unless Iraqi President Saddam Hussein steps down, the United States will unleash its military might on Iraq any time now and, once again, peace will be forced to take a bow.
But is that what it has been - a battle between war and peace? Hardly. Despite French grandstanding, it has been realpolitik all the way. The French have gambled and lost, at least for now.
As a number of Western papers have pointed out, ties between Mr Saddam and French President Jacques Chirac go back a long way. In 1974, the only trip to a Western country that Mr Saddam, then the Iraqi vice-president, undertook was to see Mr Chirac in Paris. The French leader invited him to his home for the weekend, and later sold him two nuclear reactors. Along the way he also earned himself the nickname Jacques Iraq.
During the Iran-Iraq war, from 1980 to 1988, France supplied Mirage fighter planes and Exocet anti-ship missiles to Baghdad, enabling it to triumph over the superior Iranian navy.
In the 1980s, it also sold Iraq around US$25 billion (S$44 billion) worth of weaponry. The bill has not been paid in full, and may never be if there's a regime change.
Then there's oil: Iraq's reserves have been estimated at 100 billion barrels, not to mention the significant natural gas stocks yet to be exploited.
Mr John Laurenson, a British journalist based in Paris, writes that in the mid-1990s, French oil companies Elf and TotalFina, which have since merged, negotiated contracts for two huge fields south-east of Baghdad - Majnoon and Nahr Omar - which have a combined reserve of 20 billion barrels.
In comparison, the US has total proven oil reserves of 31 billion barrels. Elf and TotalFina were prevented by UN trade embargoes from signing these contracts, but Iraq agreed to wait while France lobbied to get those sanctions lifted.
So 'if the French believe America's Iraq policy is driven by its appetite for oil, similar claims could be made about French efforts to avoid war,' he says.
And it's not just oil or arms. A report which was commissioned by the French Parliament and published in September last year, put the value of French exports to Iraq since United Nations sanctions were eased in 1996 at US$3.5 billion. French pharmaceutical firms, telecommunications firm Alcatel, engineering company Alstom and car-makers Peugeot and Renault have all made substantial sales in Iraq. France was also the Western country with the largest number of stands at last November's Baghdad Trade Fair.
Mr William Safire of the New York Times last week highlighted another reason why France, together with China and Syria, had a common reason for keeping US and British troops out of Iraq: They were part of a supply chain - complete with inspection-avoiding false fronts - supplying Iraq with materials used in building long-range surface-to-surface missiles.
In its own report, the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag fleshes out the Russian and Chinese legs of the resistance: Both, it says, have billions of dollars' worth of contracts at stake in Iraq.
Russia - Iraq's most important economic partner since Soviet days, when it supplied the Iraqi armed forces with much of the latter's arms and equipment - has also negotiated a number of big-ticket non-military items in the last few years.
Last September for instance, Russia officially confirmed 70 economic projects in Iraq, among these seven in the petrochemical sectors and 14 in traffic and communications, together worth 40 billion euros (S$76 billion), making Iraq Russia's most important foreign market and hard currency source.
Both China and Moscow also expect orders from the Iraqi armed forces, such as for fighter planes, missiles and radar equipment. China has already built two guided-missile frigates for Iraq, awaiting transfer as soon as UN sanctions are lifted.
Meanwhile, Chinese companies and technicians are wiring Iraq's military communications facilities, particularly in air defence, with eavesdrop-proof fibre-optic cables.
And finally there's oil again: Russia has three agreements with Iraq for the development of oilfields in the south and west. Baghdad cancelled one of these last November to force Russia to support its position in the Security Council. The latter did, and so the contract is valid again.
Alas, however, the Americans have pre-empted the French and the Russians by forgoing another Security Council vote. The wind has been taken out of their moralist sails, and they will no longer have the chance to veto their way to economic riches.
It's military might that speaks now, and that, like it or not, is the American realpolitik answer to the French resistance. |
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| xcel |
Hi Laborlitigator:
___Thank you and god bless …
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
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| laborlitigator |
| I just love how the French contend to have only the peace of the world in mind. . . sounds more like diplomacy by the checkbook. |
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| greatscot |
| Well now, looks like the French Pres Jack Iraq wants to play in the rebuild of Iraq, but is not willing to play a part in the downfall of his former house guest Saddam. He has gone so far as to say the belligerents (US and UK) should have no part in the aftermath reconstruction, and would veto any UN Resolution that suggested that. Why would we even want to go back to the UN? Maybe we will have to rethink the UN's role in future world scene. As earlier posts have stated, looks like the French want their cake and also get to eat it (want their oil and get to control it) |
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| laborlitigator |
| Because they're a**holes. . . |
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| oceanMDX |
Saddam was once lauded as a 'good American'
Given the keys to the city of Detroit
Chris Hornsey
CanWest News Service
Wednesday, March 26, 2003
DETROIT -- America's most reviled enemy and the keystone in the "Axis of Evil" was once presented the keys to the city of Detroit.
As missiles rain down on Saddam Hussein and hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops prepare to launch an assault on Baghdad, Pastor Jacob Yasso of Detroit's Sacred Heart Parish recalls handing the key to Saddam with the greetings of then-mayor Coleman Young in 1980, on the 50th anniversary of the church.
"Times were different back then," Yasso, 70, said Wednesday. Saddam "was the friend of the United States at the time, a puppet who relied on U.S. backing to counter the threat of Iran. The Ba'ath Party itself only existed because of support from the U.S."
Yasso sent a letter to Saddam in 1979 congratulating him on his ascension to the presidency. In return, he received $250,000 from the new Iraqi government for the Detroit chapter of the Chaldean Church, a Catholic minority in the predominantly Muslim country. Yasso was invited to visit Iraq, which he did a year later, accompanied by 25 members of the congregation.
Saddam "was a good American at the time and treated us royally," Yasso said. "We were the guests of the Iraqi government and got the red carpet treatment from embassy staff."
It was at this time Yasso presented Saddam with the key to the city on behalf of Detroit's Chaldean community. In return, Saddam handed Yasso a cheque for another $200,000 to pay off the remaining debts of Sacred Heart church.
Some of the money was used to build an adjacent community centre, which is used to teach American citizenship classes to Detroit's large Iraqi population, Yasso said.
"I certainly appreciate the irony there," he said.
As of Wednesday, the church had not received any negative comments regarding its ties to Saddam. But Yasso was deluged with media requests as the story broke.
Yasso watched throughout the 1980s as Saddam's regime descended into the depths of tyranny and oppression. When the first Gulf War broke out in 1991, Yasso was finishing a four-year stint in Toronto, where he helped structure the Good Shepherd Parish for the local Chaldean community.
Yasso said he is not surprised by the abrupt about-face that turned Saddam from an ally of the U.S. to a despised enemy.
"He was corrupted by power and money," Yasso said. "He didn't need the U.S. any more to accomplish his goals."
It looks like France wasn't the only country to enjoy Saddam's company. |
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