Iraq, it's like a rubic's cube

The issues with Iraq are so complex it almost deffies explaination. Let's look at some of the issues:

Remember when France and Germany didn't want to support the U.S. lead coalition of international forces to invade Iraq and overthrough Saddam. You know when the Washington D.C. lunch rooms were selling "Freedom Fries" rather than "French Fries" because the U.S. was upset with France for not supporting it's efforts in Iraq. I mean after all the U.S. did liberat France and save the poor frogs from Natzi Germany.

Well, this blogger thinks that it might have something to do with the fact that France has been supplying Iraq with arms, wepons and (here's the biggie) money! Yes, money in the form of loans in exchange for "favorable" prices for it's crude oil, and if the U.S. takes over in Iraq those French dudes would NEVER get their money back and would have to pay REGULAR rates for crude oil from OPEC and others.

I'm guessing Germany was in the same boat just with the money thing. If Germany even thinks about building up a war machine like a tank or a fighter jet because of NATO treaties they would be squashed like a bug on the sidewalk.

Here is some info I found in the Libary of Congress:

Iraq
Arms from France
France became a major military supplier to Iraq after 1975 as the two countries improved their political relations. In order to obtain petroleum imports from the Middle East and strengthen its traditional ties with Arab and Muslim countries, France wanted a politico-military bridge between Paris and Baghdad.

Between 1977 and 1987, Paris contracted to sell a total of 133 Mirage F-1 fighters to Iraq. The first transfer occurred in 1978, when France supplied eighteen Mirage F-1 interceptors and thirty helicopters, and even agreed to an Iraqi share in the production of the Mirage 2000 in a US$2 billion arms deal. In 1983 another twenty-nine Mirage F-1s were exported to Baghdad. And in an unprecedented move, France "loaned" Iraq five SuperEtendard attack aircraft, equipped with Exocet AM39 air-to- surface missiles, from its own naval inventory. The SuperEtendards were used extensively in the 1984 tanker war before being replaced by several F-1s. The final batch of twenty-nine F1s was ordered in September 1985 at a cost of more than US$500 million, a part of which was paid in crude oil.

In 1987 the Paris-based Le Monde estimated that, between 1981 and 1985, the value of French arms transfers to Iraq was US$5.1 billion, which represented 40 percent of total French arms exports. Paris, however, was forced to reschedule payment on most of its loans to Iraq because of Iraq's hard-pressed wartime economy and did so willingly because of its longer range strategic interests. French president François Mitterand was quoted as saying that French assistance was really aimed at keeping Iraq from losing the war. Iraqi debts to France were estimated at US$3 billion in 1987.

French military sales to Iraq were important for at least two reasons. First, they represented high-performance items. Iraq received attack helicopters, missiles, military vehicles, and artillery pieces from France. Iraq also bought more than 400 Exocet AM39 air-to-surface missiles and at least 200 AS30 laserguided missiles between 1983 and 1986. Second, unlike most other suppliers, France adopted an independent and unambiguous arms sales policy towards Iraq. France did not tie French arms commitments to Baghdad's politico-military actions, and it openly traded with Iraq even when Iranian-inspired terrorists took French hostages in Lebanon. In late 1987, however, the French softened their Persian Gulf policy, and they consummated a deal with Tehran involving the exchange of hostages for detained diplomatic personnel. It was impossible in early 1988 to determine whether France would curtail its arms exports to Iraq in conjunction with this agreement.

Data as of May 1988


Let us review, there is the MONEY and OIL side of things in Iraq. (anyone who says the war in Iraq is not about oil is full of crap)

More money angles:

Jubilee Iraq, founded by Iraqis and citizens in creditor countries, calls for:

* Immediate and unconditional cancellation of all odious debt and reparations.
* Disputes settled through a fair arbitration tribunal, representive of Iraqi views.
* We have no other agenda, which is why people of opposing political views support us.

There are a variety of issues with the World Bank, and the IMF (International Monatary Fund)

Follow this link to read about the World Bank and Iraq: World Bank & Iraq

Follow this link to read about the IMF and Iraq: IMF & Iraq