Saddam Regime Document Dated January 2003: The French and German Connections (Translation)

Pentagon/FMOS website about Iraq PreWar documents ^ | March 27 2006 | jveritas

[james500]

"Froggy is a delusional person as most French are. They have this delusional sense of greatness and glory where in reality they have been a second rated power on all levels for the last 90 years."


It seems that just about the only thing that gets the French fired up is when some French speaking former colonial African territory threatens to implode. That seems to snap them out of their ennui!

[jveritas]

LOL... exactly right.

[jveritas]

Very good summary and conclusion.

[Marine_Uncle]

"I think their ranking on that recent world average IQ test, may need some revision."
Sure looks like you hit it on the nail. Throw in the russkies for a nice threesome. Their royal screw ups continue to make it easy for the goons of the world to play really dangerous games.

[Liberty Valance]

Thank you.
Again.

[jveritas]

Anytime :)

[RaceBannon]

bump

[mjaneangels@aolcom]

"In fact I am working quiet hard in my regular engineering job :) I have been doing the vast majority of the translations after the work hours, staying up very late at night, and then post it either that same night or the second day."

Thank you very much for all the hard work on translating these documents.

[Albertafriend]

All of this business about France and oil reminded me of another line of research that was happening last fall. This is in regard to the forged Niger documents and Joe Wilson. We had a couple of very interesting articles posted by paperjam on her research into the huge oil interests France had in Iraq to keep the US out and to get the sanctions lifted.

Is this the "French Connection" we were looking for?
Self | 30 October, 2005 | Paperjam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1515785/posts

One of the oil companies in Gabon (AF's note: Wilson was ambassador to Gabon) is one called Elf. On Oct. 29, 1997 Elf Gabon reported a new onshore discovery and at the time they had a 60 % stake in the development, in association with the Gabonese government, which retains the remaining 40%.
See: http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/discover/dix75048.htm
However, as of 1996 the company was already hurting by reduced output in their other wells and the country was in trouble with imports becoming so cheap that in-country manufacturing fell to very low levels. Elf was rocked by allegations of slush funds and corruption and a trail of the executives of Elf, which concluded in Paris just last year told a story of slush funds and misappropriation going back for decades.
See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3733578.stm
In 1999, Total merged with Fina and Elf to form TotalFinaElf. More on this to follow!
See: http://www.total.com/en/press/press_releases/pr_1999/990723_board_elf_aquitaine_meets_1898.htm
This is where it gets interesting.
“One day after President Bush's demand that Iraq comply with United Nations arms control resolutions, three French parliamentary deputies flew to Iraq on what they described as a personal visit to urge Baghdad to comply with the demands.
The visit set off a political storm in France, where much is riding on the outcome of the diplomatic struggle over Iraq. While a humanitarian gesture, the trip also illustrated in part how countries are positioning themselves for an end of trade penalties. One of the three legislators, Thierry Mariani, 44, of President Jacques Chirac's Union for a Presidential Majority, told French television that the purpose of the trip was to urge Iraqi compliance with the United Nations' demands. But he was also quoted in Le Monde as justifying the trip with "the defense of French economic interests in Iraq."
Last year, France ranked No. 1 among European countries doing business with Iraq, with $1.5 billion in trade, followed by Italy, with $1 billion. Among the countries that trade with Iraq under the oil-for-food program, France ranked third, with $3.1 billion in trade since the program's start 1996. French trade under the program was surpassed only by Russia, with $4.3 billion, and Egypt, according to United Nations diplomats.
The French oil giant TotalFinaElf has the largest position in Iraq, with exclusive negotiating rights to develop Majnoon, a field on the Iranian border with estimated reserves of 10 billion barrels, and Bin Umar, with an estimated production potential of 440,000 barrels a day, according to oil industry executives.”
See: http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/oil/2002/0919threats.htm
“French oil giant TotalFinaElf has exclusive exploration contracts worth €60bn - €75bn to develop the massive Majnoon and Bin Umar oilfields in southern Iraq,” said David Perle former US Assistant Defense Secretary before Saddam was ousted. “What’s distinctive about the Total contract is that it’s not favourable to Iraq, it’s favourable to Total.” He said oil experts who had analyzed the deal described it as “extraordinarily lopsided” in favour of the French company with the well connected Canadian shareholders. The one thing Perle didn’t know was that this very lucrative deal was contingent on UN sanctions being lifted, a move that assured Saddam a lot of support at the UN, especially if he was entering contracts with big payofffs like this.
See: http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article.php/2005032901363934
As of September 2003, TotalFinaElf officially became Total.
Now known as TOTAL, after a name change from TotalFinaElf, the company is the world's fifth largest integrated oil and gas company. It is based in Paris, operates in 120 countries with exploration and production activity in 44 countries and production in 27. The company has 2.4 million barrels per day of production, which compares with 4.2 million barrels daily for Exxon Mobil Corp. and 3.5 million barrels/day for BP plc. The company has 11.2 billion barrels of reserves and has been averaging a 2.5 percent annual growth in production but saw a 10 percent increase between 2001 and 2002.
The new TOTAL was created through two successive mergers, the first when the former Total joined with Belgian oil company Petrofina to form Totalfina, and the second when Totalfina combined with French oil company Elf Aquitaine to create TotalFinaElf. The new company reflects this prestigious Franco-Belgian oil and gas heritage, whose origins go back to the 1920s. The dynamic synthesis of the three companies’ corporate cultures and expertise represents a wealth of technological and human capabilities that favorably position Total to help invent the future of energy.
See: http://www.mbendi.co.za/coto.htm

and
Expanding the French Connection
Self ^ | Friday, November 04, 2005 | Paperjam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1515785/posts

[xzins]

Also there is an important part of the letter where it mention the visit of German Chancellor to meet with the Chinese Prime minister and that the Chinese PM told Schroeder “about the information that was obtained by the Chinese intelligence and it says that Iraq has moved his mass of destruction weapon to Syria and the German Chancellor told him that the German intelligence did not indicate this. And after two days the US state secretary went to Damascus to check on this with the Syrian government that in turn denied this news.”

What we have is the Germans saying they no INDICATIONS that the WMDs have been moved to Syria.

1. This is not the same as saying it has not in fact happened.

2. This seems to have the Germans assuming the existence of the WMDs.

3. It does not have the Germans denying the existence of the WMDs.

[jveritas]

All this indicate that the Germans and the Chinese and the whole world believed Saddam had WMD all the way till the end. The mantra of the Left that Bush Lied to us to go to war with Iraq is the biggest lie of all and this documents and others will destroy the Left lies.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Check out this:

Security Watchtower

[jveritas]

All right :)

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Way to go.....excellent work!

[RandallFlagg]

Any chance I could get you (or someone) to peek at this?

It's from this one.
Thanks in advance.

[Galveston Grl]

Thanks so much for taking the time and the dedication to translate these documents for us. You go down in my book as a hero.

[Galveston Grl]

That is the chance for Republicans to respond that the Lib/msm is only upset because it is turning out that the documents prove Saddam had WMD and also was working with Binny boy. If they don't respond like this - they are absolute idiots!

Liberals lied, soldiers died.

[Wiz]

ping

[pissant]

I assume you about as unsuprised as I am about the backstabbing euro-trash.

[jveritas]

This is an Iraq intelligence document quoting a news report from CBS news where the report talks about AL Qaeda seeking to build a nuclear bomb and than deliver it to the United States according to Al Qaeda member Abu Zubaida who is an aide for Bin Laden and head of Al Qaeda operations. Abu Zubaida was telling this to his jail interrogators after he was captured. The report goes on to say that the officials are not sure of Abu Zubaida is telling the truth or he is just showing off.