READERS'
MAIL AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Send your e-mails to Melvina Southerland at:
letterstotheeditor@monthlyherald.net
melvinasoutherland@monthlyherald.netFRENCH ARE NUTS. WE DON'T TRUST THE FRENCH AND CHIRAC!!
Dear Melvina: French, Russian
and U.N. officials warned against making hasty judgments after the
U.S. Iraq Survey Group reported that Saddam Hussein had used France,
Russia and the U.N. oil-for-food program to buy influence at the United
Nations. I know the French did. The report accused key officials, including
former French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua, Indonesian President
Megawati Sukarnoputri, Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky and retired
U.N. oil-for-food director Benon Sevan of accepting oil vouchers, which
could be exchanged secretly for cash. They mage big bucks. Everybody at the
U.N. knows that. So why to hide the truth? French are nuts. They deny
everything. And you want the American people to trust the French? In your
dreams. U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said that Mr. Sevan had denied the
charges, and he urged patience until a U.N. appointed panel, led by former
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker, issues its own report. The U.S.
report, which was posted on the CIA Web site told the truth. Of course, the
CIA report infuriated the French and the Russians. Read what Zhirinovsky: "I
never took a drop [of oil] or a single dollar from Iraq or from any other
country. I have never dealt with oil." The truth is Zhirinovsky was a
frequent visitor to Saddam's Iraq. Some of the most damaging
accusations in the report by the U.S. Iraq Survey Group (ISG) are against
senior French officials, including charges that they accepted payoffs to
counterbalance U.S. power inside the sanctions committee on the U.N.
Security Council. And I believe that. According to former Iraqi Deputy Prime
Minister Tariq Aziz, both parties understood that resale of the oil was to
be reciprocated through efforts to lift U.N. sanctions or through opposition
to American initiatives within the Security Council," the report said.
French officials urged caution in reaction to the scandal. Dave Syms,
Washington, D.C., USA.
TONY BLAIR: AMERICA'S POODLE
Dear Melvina: "America's Poodle" is the insult of choice hurled by London's critics of Tony Blair for his support for President Bush. But seasoned politicians agree that it's not, it is has to be said, a particularly original insult. Mr Watson put it nicely. He wrote "I've heard it used against previous British governments during previous international crises that have seen the UK side with the US in the face of opposition both at home and abroad." Certainly in the case of Iraq, it's an insult that appears quite wide of the mark. Though British diplomats are loathe to get into that game of quantifying Mr Blair's influence over Mr Bush, they're happy to leave the impression his clout in Washington is considerable. So far at least the facts seem to bear that out. There's no doubt that Mr Blair played a key role in persuading President Bush to deal with Iraq through the United Nations in the first place when they met at Camp David last September. The argument from Mr Blair was that taking the UN route would help make the case that Iraq was defying the world and not just the US and Britain. Since then, Mr Blair is often described as having a "moderating" effect on Mr Bush and of persuading the president to listen more carefully to the doves in his administration than to the hawks - that is, to the advice of Secretary of State Colin Powell, rather than that of Vice President Cheney or Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. To some extent, the level of Britain's influence is a measure of America's isolation. With no other major power supporting it, the common wisdom in Washington is that the Bush administration can ill afford to upset or ignore its high-profile British ally. But it's more than forced politeness. Britain is also seen as a valuable bridge between the US and other European nations and Mr Blair a vital partner in the diplomatic "heavy-lifting" required to move France and Russia and other opponents of the tough line on Iraq. And working with friends in Europe like Spain's Prime Minister Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, Mr Blair has played a key role in getting other European leaders to send their letter of support to President Bush. Robert McKenzy, London, United Kingdom.
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