BullshitDjmixxx wrote: βThu Apr 07, 2022 5:42 pm I do not condone Russia's actions. But impunity in one country breeds a sense of impunity in another country. If the whole planet showed its attitude to any aggression of any country, Russia would have thought before the attack. But now he has an example of US impunity.
https://annahistoryblog.wordpress.com/2 ... r-in-iraq/
Why did the French oppose war in Iraq?
August 29, 2018 ~ annahistoryblog
France feared that military action in Iraq could lead to a spike in terrorism in Europe. France has a large Muslim population and it feared that a war in Iraq could lead to increased tensions in cities with these large populations. The country believed that large Muslim populations, whilst largely peaceful, constituted a recruiting ground and cover for sleeper cells. Moreover, Jean-Marie le Pen, leader of the racist βFront Nationalβ at the time, made it through to the final round of the Presidential election in 2002, appealing to these sentiments. Fear of the βotherβ and of increased terrorist activities in Europe (where terrorism had been far more common than in the US in the decades prior to 9/11) was therefore clearly another important reason for French opposition in 2003. [whose party is being financed by russian money now that it's his daughter the lead ]
The most profound reason for French opposition was the notion that it is exceptional. Paris disliked US unilateralism and believed in a unique French destiny. This was an idea that had developed under Charles de Gaulle in the mid-twentieth century and was now being nurtured by Chirac in 2002-3. French newspapers and politicians portrayed the US as insidious and imperial. Gaullism in France deserves its own post, but suffice it to say for the moment, that it played a large role in Chiracβs decisions in 2003.
Finally, despite US insistence that Saddam was stockpiling WMD and that new inspections started in 2002 were not working, the French found no evidence to support this. Moreover, the US claimed that Saddam had links to al-Qaeda, but again the US intelligence services had no evidence in support of that. Whilst weapons were discovered in Iraq, Paris took the discovery to mean that Saddam was now working with the UN and there was no need therefore to invade Iraq in order to prevent its proliferation.
