I think you are wrong, France knows which side of their bread slice is buttered, and they fear (wrongly, IMHO) that our involvement with Iraq will endanger their about a billion a year of trade with Iraq. It was France that supplied the nuclear reactor capable of producing fissile Pt, and they knew very well what for that reactor was. Frankly, I think the Israeli took out that reactor more because they were pissed off that their own design and technology was falling into Saddam's hands... (g). People forget that from about 1954 to around 1962, Israel's arm supplier were the French (common enemy at the time, Arab extremists) and they had a joint nuclear program. Now, don't blame the French too much, since we are not completely clean of that sin either, we did supply Iraq with all the "necessities" to fight Iran including some very nasty stuff... Maybe we did learn a little from the French? (g).
As for the rest of your post, I agree that a way to depose despots in the region that have no respect for human life (and that includes not just Saddam, but some Suddani and Lybian dictators as well) must be found, but I fear that a deposition from the outside by force, will create unintended consequences, including lowering the bar for future armed conflicts everywhere in the world. Guess what, there are some whispers that Sharraf may no longer have the support of the Pakistani Army, what if Pakistan yields to extreme Islam? What happens to his nuclear weapons?
Are we going to go after every despot that lacks respect for human life? Where do we stop?
Zeev
AI
