Many Americans hold an idealistic view of the world community that leads them to conclude that any military action against Iraq should be approved by the U.N. Security Council, while others stung by criticism the U.S. is arrogant and unilateralist, favor military action under the umbrella of United Nations approval simply to pacify world opinion.

This idealistic view that the U.N. will do the "right thing" about Iraq, fails to recognize the realities of international politics and the impact that national self-interest has on the decision making process in the U.N.

For example, both Russia and France have significant financial interests at stake, including oil exploration and development contracts worth billions of dollars. For years, both Russia and France have been more interested in getting U.N. sanctions lifted for their own economic gain, then in ensuring that Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction.

Since 1996, Russia has ranked first among nations doing business with Iraq under the oil-for-food program with sales exceeding $4 billion, and Russia still hopes to collect the $12 billion in cold-war-era debt owed by Iraq.
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Last year under the oil-for-food program, France sold $1.5 billion worth of goods to Iraq, the most of any nation. Major French companies like communications giant Alcatel and automakers Peugeot and Renault have landed lucrative deals in Iraq.
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Critics of possible U.S. military action against Iraq say its all about oil. They are partially right; they just got the "U.S. part" wrong. Its about Moscow and Paris wanting to protect their oil interests in Iraq. Its about billions of dollars for Russia and France as long as they look the other way while Saddam Hussein develops weapons of mass destruction, supports terrorism, and continues to be a destabilizing force in the Middle East.

» Security Council Sells Out