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"Follow the Money:" How France bankrolls America's enemies.
by Michael Gonzalez, Wall Street Journal. EFL; read the whole thing."Follow the money" is an old adage, and it means that economic interest will eventually explain much human behavior. That France opposed the removal of Saddam Hussein because he owed millions to French banks is proof of this. Less well known, but much more troubling, are key French financial links with other U.S. enemies. They raise the belief that the Franco-American conflict over Iraq was just one slice of the action. For France was not just Baathist Iraq's largest contributor of funds; French banks have financed other odious regimes. They are the No. 1 lenders to Iran and Cuba and past and present U.S. foes such as Somalia, Sudan and Vietnam. The policy of offering France as an alternative to the U.S. has had a deeply corrosive effect on the political relationship this year, something that will only increase now that President Bush has enunciated a clear, long-term policy of expanding freedom around the world. And as the banking figures attest, the anti-U.S. French self-image extends beyond politics. Other evidence suggests that it has become deeply embedded in the French psyche and encompasses not just finance and politics but also culture, media and almost every other human activity. France, in all its manifestations, positions itself as an alternative to the U.S., and expects to profit from it. The B[ank of I[nternational ]S[ettlements] does not say how profitable or competitive lending to dictators and demagogues has made French banks. But it's worth mulling the chicken and egg question here. As Mr. Moré[, a researcher at a Madrid think-tank,] suggests, perhaps in jest, it could be not that one should follow the money to discover French policy, but that the money has followed French foreign policy. Posted by: Mike 2003-11-29 |
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