"A few" = "A lot!" American complicity in his smuggling did far more to keep his regime in power than the oil for food kickbacks.
I understand the allegations still haven't been proven yet? But assuming they are accurate, I'm not outraged about France because I find it rather amusing. I expect countries to do things like this, even if I don't think it ideal - its a dirty world. And well, as our friendly rivals across the English Channel, we expect no less from them
America gets more outrage from me because I'm fed up with hearing about how morally righteous they apparently are and how they have the right to shove it down my throat, despite not a word of it being true. The French are just the French, they just get on with life and they only interfere with Britain when they block the Channel Ports or fight to prevent a reduction in the CAP budget. America has to always be on some moral crusade, which would be tolerable in principle, except its always bullcrap and we never stop being told about it!
In the last seven days:
1) It emerges that America allows Saddam to break the sanctions that
they got imposed on him - ensuring that only the poor suffer whilst Saddam lines his pockets
2) America says its "deeply disturbed" by the massacre of protesters (several hundred) in Uzbekistan. Those aren't the words that spring to mind for me - "bloody outrageous" would be more like it. A more appropriate response would be to stop sending this evil dictator millions upon millions of dollars every year and to insist upon democratic elections. Somehow the CIA acknowledges "systematic, widespread torture" yet describes this regime as "moderate"
3) North Korea gets beaten over the head more with the Bush administration stick of non-proliferation. Despite the US withdrawing from the ABM treaty and breaking the most fundamental part of the non-proliferation treaty by seeking to develop a new generation of nuclear weapons to use on the battlefield.
Aaaargh!
[ 05-17-2005, 04:31 PM: Message edited by: shamrock_uk ]