A Maginot Line of Inspectors- There are many theories to explain the French position on Iraq. Some believe France is trying to retain its access to Iraqi oil. Others believe France is trying to hide its involvement in supplying Saddams nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. There are even reports of cash bribes to President Chirac from Baghdad. Many are simply ascribed to based on how low an observers opinions are of the French. If this is not part of a duplicitous plot, what could the French be thinking?

The French have proven time and again throughout the 20th Century that their tactical and strategic vision is woefully outdated. During World War I, the French annihilated a generation of their own youth by relying on human wave attacks against machine-guns and modern artillery. Following the war, France used the peace process to so cripple Germanys economy that the nation was ripe for Hitlers hate mongering. The French insisted on carving up old empires and creating new countries that have lead to many of todays problems in the Balkans and the Middle-East.

Prior to World War II the French constructed massive concrete fortifications known as the Maginot Line to stop the Germans. The Germans simply drove around the Maginot Line and conquered France in only six weeks. France also had the largest and most modern army in the world; but its outdated tactics could not withstand the German blitzkrieg.

The democratic allies defeated imperialism in Italy, Germany, and Japan. The French response to their liberation was to enlist Nazi Prisoners of War into the Foreign Legion and dispatch them to enslave a new French Empire in Africa and Asia. This convinced many in the Third-World that the West intended to keep democracy and freedom for itself. In 1956 the French convinced Britain and Israel to join in its unilateral invasion of Egypt. This invasion was launched to embarrass President Nasser of Egypt for supporting Muslim rebels in the French colony Algeria. The only time in UN history that France used its Security Council veto power was to foil a UN resolution to stop their invasion of Egypt. The French unilateral wars against Algeria and Egypt are one of the primary causes of Arab distrust of the West.

Now the country that blundered its way through the 20th Century wants to decide how to deal with the Iraq crisis. They believe that inspectors and sanctions will contain Iraqs Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)program. They are trying to build a Maginot Line of UN Inspectors to protect themselves from WMD attacks. While this line of defenses, like the last one, may look impressively strong; Saddam has simply mounted his production on trucks and is driving them around the new Maginot Line.

Once again Frances strategic thinking is decades out of date. In the past WMD production and research required huge industrial complexes. Todays facilities are truck mounted and can be hidden in a million places the inspectors will never look. In the first seven years of inspections the UN found documents to verify that Iraq may have produced ten billion lethal doses of biological toxins. The Iraqis have been able to hide these huge stockpiles from inspectors for twelve years. 

In previous wars it took large artillery bombardments to make chemical weapons effective. Today the weapons are more potent and terrorists provide an effective delivery system. Al Qaeda has been caught with plans to add chemical weapons into building ventilation systems. We could assign a UN Inspector to guard every air conditioner in the free world; but would they have the will to stop the slaughter, or would they stand aside and watch the massacre like UN Peacekeepers did at UN Safe Havens in Bosnia. 
During their 12 years of inspections the UN has proved Saddam had 36,000 WMD delivery systems he will not account for. The new round of inspections have found 18 of these weapons, with continued inspections they are on pace to find all of Saddam's weapons by September the 11th, of the year 2301. Only a fool or a Frenchman could believe we could contain the weapons for that long. 

The French still dont realize that nations no longer need fleets of inspectable bombers and intercontinental missiles to attack their enemies. For the cost of 19 plane tickets the worlds only superpower was brought to its knees. Now what if those 19 attackers had WMD, how much damage could they do? A Defense Department analyst found that one plane spraying 440 pounds of anthrax over Manhattan would kill 1,000,000 people. Zacarias Moussaoui had the research on his laptop and Mohamed Atta tried to buy the cropduster. Why would Atta try to buy the cropduster unless he had access to WMD? The Czech Republic still affirms that Mohamed Atta met with an Iraqi intelligence chief in early 2001. The Czechs expelled this diplomat BEFORE 9-11-01 for providing assistance to terrorists who were planning to attack American and Jewish targets. An intelligence agent, from a hostile nation that is hiding WMD, was assisting Islamic terrorists and met with a suicide bomber who was trying to buy a crop duster to spray WMD. These actions occurred two years ago; yet the French dont believe their ally Saddam and his alliance with terrorists is an imminent threat.

The French have proven they have no interest in containment. They have signed agreements with Saddam to develop Iraqi oil fields when UN sanctions are lifted. Even though the inspectors have proven that Saddam is still hiding WMD; the French have tried on several occasion to have the inspections and sanctions lifted. Hans Blix has stated that he will submit a plan in March to end inspections and lift the sanctions; ending the containment the French and their apologists say will work. 

The Maginot Line did not protect France from Germany. It only forced Germany to invade three other countries to get around it. The Maginot Line of Inspectors has failed to stop Saddam for twelve years, and their current pace requires 300 more years. The only question is which countries will be attacked with Iraqs Weapons of Mass Destruction, while they drive around this new Maginot Line to France. Recent terror alerts suggest Al Qaeda is planning to used WMD. Police throughout the world are on the look out for terrorists using light bulbs and fire extinguishers to spread deadly toxins. Its beginning to look like the Maginot Line has already been breached.-- Ted Wade