FRANCE IS ARMING IRAQ:

A French company has been selling spare parts to Iraq for its fighter jets and military helicopters during the past several months, according to U.S. intelligence officials.

The unidentified company sold the parts to a trading company in the United Arab Emirates, which then shipped the parts through a third country into Iraq by truck.

The spare parts included goods for Iraq’s French-made Mirage F-1 jets and Gazelle attack helicopters. . . .

Other intelligence reports indicate that Iraq had succeeded in acquiring French weaponry illegally for years, the official said. . . .

An administration official said the French parts transfers to Iraq may be one reason France has so vehemently opposed U.S. plans for military action against Iraq. “No wonder the French are opposing us,” this official said. . . .

France has been Iraq’s best friend in the West. French arms sales to Baghdad were boosted in the 1970s under Premier Jacques Chirac, the current president. Mr. Chirac once called Saddam Hussein a “personal friend.”

More support for the Den Beste theory that the French and Germans are blocking the war to conceal evidence that they’ve been violating sanctions. Of course, the French government may not have known about this — but even if that’s true, it’s going to make it rather hard for them to credibly claim that the current “containment” regime is working.

UPDATE: “Treachery of the lowest order.”