> Bear in mind that this is the same France that currently [...] has oil deals with Hussain that probably won't be honoured by a new government...

I'd just like to point that last one out.

The whole "No Blood For Oil" rhetoric that (some) protestors are shouting strikes me as rather idiotic. Do protestors honestly think that the President of the United States would place a quarter of a million lives in harm's way, to risk the ire and wrath of our allies and the world, to make us more of a target for terrorist attacks simply so Chevron will have a good fiscal quarter? That we would dare to ruin our nation's standings in international affairs just so someone who is worth $32.5 billion can be worth $33.5 billion? That we would spend time, money, effort, and lives because it would help out six or seven corporations?

There's a difference between the United States of America and France. The US is primarily a capitalist society: corporations are independent from the government. France is a socialist nation; for the purpose of this discussion, the government owns the utilities. France has oil contracts with Iraq. The United States does not have oil contracts -- corporations that operate in the United States have oil contracts with various nations. France has a non-objective interest in preventing war with Iraq. The French government's policies in this instance are dictated by the French utility companies, which is the French government. The US's policies regarding Iraq are not driven by a small group of businessmen.

When anti-war protestors shout "no blood for oil", they're really saying "we don't want to go to a war that's prompted by oil corporations", as if that's what's really going on. (I believe these people also believe that The X-Files is a documentary series, that John Edwards really can communicate with the dead, and where the planets were when one emerged from the womb dictate nearly every aspect of one's life.)

When France shouts "no blood for oil", they're really saying "no blood FOR oil".

-FP