Berlin Says US and France Guilty of Hypocrisy

[FarCenter]

Source: Der Spiegel

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier opposes French calls for European Union sanctions against Iran. He will back up his case with German Foreign Ministry data showing that leading French and American companies are conducting large amounts of business with Iran.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is to oppose French calls for European Union sanctions against Iran and is planning to back up his case with evidence of French and American hypocrisy over sanctions against Iran.

According to information obtained by SPIEGEL, the economics department of the German Foreign Ministry has collected revealing data which Steinmeier will use to back up his argument against EU sanctions.

Several French companies in the automobile, energy and financial sectors -- including Peugeot, Renault, Total, BNP Paribas and Societé Générale -- have hardly reduced the level of business they do with Iran, according to the Foreign Ministry data. German exports to Iran, in contrast, have dramatically declined.

Even more explosive is the data that reveals US hypocrisy over sanctions. The German Foreign Ministry accuses American firms of bypassing the boycott against Iran, which has been in place since 1979, by creating front companies in Dubai to carry out their business. German politicians have long internally accused the United States of knowingly tolerating the practice.


Read more: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,507443,00.html

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Hypocrisy? Front companies in Dubai? We're shocked...

[CoffeeCat]

1. Oh no!!

Now Bush will demand that they put the wall back up!

No soup for you, Berlin!

[Cha]

7. We'll be banning bratwurst and

Dankeshien..wayne newton will have to find a new song.

[CoffeeCat]

14. That means...

...at least 20 percent of "Ferris Bueller" will have to be edited.

[Cha]

16. Oh dear, I've forgotten what

the 20% of Ferris was that would need to be deleted because we were banning all things Germananic?

[CoffeeCat]

18. They'd have to cut out all of the parts...

...of Ferris Bueller in which "Dankeshien" was sung or played.

Ferris sang it in the shower. The song was also featured in the parade scene, when
Ferris was on the float. Ed Rooney also sang it. Jeanie also sang it as she was leaving
the police station, after she met Charlie Sheen.

That song was all over the place in that movie! :)

[Cha]

19. Wow! I'll have

to see it again. I use to like that song but then wayne newton is such bushit..it isn't quite as appealing as it was in the '60's.

[kineneb]

2. so much for Merkel being Bush's buddy

the Admn. thought they would get another lapdog with Merkel. Surprise!

[AndyTiedye]

4. Didn't He Try to Get a Little TOO Buddy-Buddy With Her?

[kineneb]

5. maybe then she understood what a creep GWB is.

I remember the look on her face. And for GWB to get that close is a no-no in German society. Italians hug their friends, Germans shake hands.

[AndyTiedye]

6. I just edited the post to give an image that DU will display

the look is quite clear

[Cha]

8. Yeah, I didn't see bush giving

berlusconi a massage.

[ForeignSpectator]

15. That doesn't tell all too much about Merkel's attitude towards Bush

Merkel is in the conservative party, Steinmeier not. I remember her flying to Washington on her own to express support for Bush pre-Iraq ( with one of HER own lapdogs ). Definitely liked that she didn't seem to care about China when talking with the Dalai Lama but in terms of Bush I have no idea where she really stands. But I wouldn't be too optimistic...

Sarkozy is interesting, too though. Advertised himself as not being a Bush lapdog like Blair during elections and now on his way to become one...

[Hardrada]

3. Wunderschoene Berlin

[provis99]

9. will we have to rename Hamburgers, "freedomburgers"?

[NYC]

11. Liberty Steak.

I can't swear, but I think that is what it was renamed in a prior war.

[Canuckistanian]

10. Ausgezeichnet!

Dubai, huh? Now what American company operates out of Dubai, I wonder?

[Kaleko]

12. Umm, let me guess

...is it the Dick's Alma Mater, Halitosis (stinky breath)?

[Tempest]

17. Didn't Halliburton recently move their headquarters there?

Why yes, yes they did.

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,258274,00.html

[Solly Mack]

13. imagine that

[Supersedeas]

20. bet we don't hear peep about this from the TV Powdered faces

[BulletproofLandshark]

21. Time for a resolution in Congress

Hot dogs will now be known as "freedomfurters". C'mon Congress, let's get this done!