SOMETHING SMELLS VICHY

Intelligence team finds French passports in Iraq (Bill Gertz, 5/24/03, THE WASHINGTON TIMES)

A U.S. military intelligence team in Iraq has uncovered a dozen French passports, and defense officials believe other French passports from the same batch were used by Iraqis to flee the country.

Defense officials are still investigating whether the passports were provided covertly by the French government, or were stolen or forged by Saddam Hussein's regime, said defense officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

A State Department official said the French provision of passports to the Iraqis was like "Raoul Wallenberg in reverse" - a reference to the Swedish diplomat who helped Jews escape Nazi Germany during World War II.

The comparison is even more apt when you consider they acted as reverse-Wallenbergs in WWII also--trading French Jews for chocolate and nylons. Posted by Orrin Judd at May 24, 2003 11:20 AM