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France - the ambiguous ally

Mitterrand
Former President Mitterrand said France would fight alongside allies  

PARIS, France (CNN) -- Of all the major Western powers involved in the Gulf War, France was perhaps the most ambiguous in its attitude towards the whole affair.

From the outset it showed no hesitation in joining the military alliance ranged against Saddam Hussein.

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Within days of the Iraq invasion of Kuwait, French sailors were on their way to the Gulf and within weeks French ground troops were deployed in Saudi Arabia.

France would not tolerate Iraqi aggression, the late President Francois Mitterrand insisted at the time, and was prepared to fight alongside its allies if need be.

While mobilising militarily, however, Mitterrand also demanded that every diplomatic means possible be employed to resolve the crisis, a conflicting message that sowed doubts about French resolve and infuriated her American and British allies.

In his New Year's message of 1991, just 17 days before the launch of Operation Desert Storm, Mitterand declared that he would order his troops to fight if necessary, but that peace was still possible.

"Until the last minute we wanted to avoid war," former French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas said. He personally offered to open negotiations with Iraq in exchange for a promise to withdraw from Kuwait.

"Everything was ready, but at the last moment, as we did not receive the promise from Saddam Hussein, I said I am not going to Baghdad."

France's credibility as a member of the Alliance was further undermined by the resignation of Defence Minister Jean-Pierre Chevenment just as the air campaign got under way.

A founding member of the Franco-Iraqi friendship society, Chevenment had from the beginning been an outspoken opponent of military intervention in the Gulf.

We should have toppled Saddam

Once Desert Storm had actually been launched France did not waver.

"We knew war could be necessary, but we did not like it," the French Prime Minister of the time Michel Rocard said.

Whatever his country's qualms about fighting, Rocard believes it was vital to demonstrate that the world was ready to use military force to stop belligerent aggression.

His main regret 10 years later is that the Allies did not actually topple Saddam.

"It's a pity that we did not finish the job," he said. "It would have been useful, it would have preserved the future for the Iraqi people, because who is suffering? Not Saddam Hussein... he is still well paid, well nourished. Who suffers? The Iraqi people, alas."

Today, France is still not entirely in step with other Western powers in its attitude towards Saddam's regime.

Its companies participate in Franco-Iraqi trade fairs in open defiance of the international embargo against Iraq, while it has shown itself increasingly reluctant to enforce the "no fly" zones in the north and south of the country.

At the same time, at least one former cabinet minister has said his government was surprised the U.S. unilaterally stopped the war without overthrowing Saddam, and another is of the opinion that it is not too late to think about forcing a change in the regime in Iraq.



RELATED STORIES:
The Unfinished War: A Decade Since Desert Storm
Tenth anniversary of the Gulf War: A look back

RELATED SITES:
Gulf War Veteran Resource Page
French Ministry of Defence
French Foreign Ministry

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