In an op-ed article in New York Times, William Safire reveals some ulterior motives for France (and China and Syria) wanting to block the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq: “the three nations may not want the world to discover that their nationals have been illicitly supplying Saddam Hussein with materials used in building long-range surface-to-surface missiles.” Apparently, France and China have been using Syria as an intermediary for some time in order to supply Iraq with 99 percent unsymmetric dimethylhydrazine, an advanced misisle fuel, and HTPB, a transparent liquid rubber used as a binder for solid propellant whose sale to Iraq is specifically forbidden by the United Nations. If these allegations are common knowledge to arms dealers, as Safire suggests, then it provides some damning evidence, to say the least. Safire concludes, “This detail about the France-China-Syria-Iraq propellant collaboration makes for dull reading, but reveals some of the motivation behind the campaign of those nations to suppress the truth. The truth, however, will out.” Let’s hope so.
