French imperialism has profited handsomely from UN-controlled trade with Iraq in the past 12 years of UN-imposed sanctions. Currently French firms account for 22.5 percent of all goods imported into Iraq, scooping up an annual gross profit of $1.5 billion from this trade.

The French oil company, TotalFinaElf, has negotiated oil deals that would give it control over 25 percent of Iraq’s oil reserves. French companies have signed 798 contracts for parts and equipment for the Iraqi oil industry.

While the capitalists in Germany lag far behind their French rivals, they still pull in some $350 million in direct annual trade with Iraq.

The Russian and Chinese workers states each accounts for 5.8 percent of Iraq’s imports. Russia has signed 862 UN-approved contracts to supply oil industry equipment and parts, while China has signed 227 such agreements.

These deals with Baghdad are threatened by a U.S.-led overthrow of the Saddam Hussein government. The alternative course promoted by Paris, Berlin, and others is to bolster the brutal UN-imposed status quo of economic sanctions and military-backed inspections.
 
 
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