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Wednesday, May 07, 2003
posted by gbarto at 12:41 PM:
No Thaw With 'Old Europe'Rice blasts France, Russia, Germany in Spanish newspaper interviews
At issue, whether UN sanctions - sanctions France and Russia ignored and thwarted - can be lifted with Saddam gone. France and Russia want them to stay, since they had lucrative deals with Saddam that would go away if the oil-for-food program changes.
It's worth noting that in spite of sanctions, billions of dollars in oil made it to Jordan, and side deals were cut with Syria and France. In other words, the sanctions were pretty porous since there was no effective enforcement mechanism. So... if France and Russia exercise their Security Council veto to keep the sanctions on, what if billions of barrels of unexplained oil show up on the world markets anyway? If the SEC and its counterparts in Great Britain, Australia, Spain and Italy don't care, will there be anything to be done about a new influx of oil showing up on our markets?
Now mind you, the oil should go straight to the markets and the Iraqis should be paid accordingly. No special deals. Because we want it to be clear as possible that keeping the sanctions is all about cheap oil for France and dropping them is all about giving the Iraqi people what's theirs. In other words, by finessing this right, we have the opportunity in the middle of this diplomatic tussle to send every third-world country the clear message: France wants to use the UN to colonize you for its own interests. America wants you free... and as wealthy as you can get. We have, in other words, the chance to screw Chirac big time and burst the bubble about France speaking for the little people when all it really speaks for is France.
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