Joe Pitts: “right after September 11, France voiced its support in the war on terrorism. Lately, we are hearing a different story.…”

“right after September 11, France voiced its support in the war on terrorism. Lately, we are hearing a different story. It has been reported that the French Government secretly supplied fleeing Iraqi officials with passports in Syria to allow them to escape to Europe. The French passports allowed the wanted Iraqis to move freely among 12 European Union countries. There are also reports which indicate that a French company covertly sold spare military parts to Iraq in the weeks before the war and that a French oil company was working with a Russian oil firm to conclude a deal with Saddam's government in the days before military action began March 19. All of this has undermined our efforts to root out terrorists in Iraq and capture members of the brutal Iraqi regime. If France wants to be an ally in the war on terrorism, it is time it started to act like one.”