Is this story a joke?

[gatorboy]

It feels like a parody especially with the French bad guy.....

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1802&e=13&u=/washpost/20041008/ts_washpost/a16142_2004oct7

<snip>
Many Helped Iraq Evade U.N. Sanctions On Weapons


BERLIN, Oct. 7 -- As part of its stealth effort to evade U.N. sanctions and rebuild its military, the Iraqi government under President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) found that it had no shortage of people around the world who were willing to help. Among them: a French arms dealer known only as "Mr. Claude," who made a surreptitious visit to Iraq (news - web sites) four years ago to provide technical expertise and training.

Mr. Claude worked for Lura, a French company that sold tank carriers to Iraq, according to documents recovered by the top U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq. The mysterious Frenchman may have also helped the Iraqis attempt to acquire military-related radar and microwave technology, despite a U.N. ban on such trade with Iraq since the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf War (news - web sites).

Other French military contractors came to Baghdad with offers to supply the Iraqi government with helicopters, spare parts for fighter aircraft and air defense systems after 1998, when U.N. weapons inspectors withdrew under pressure, according to a report issued this week by Charles A. Duelfer, the chief U.S. weapons inspector. The report cites evidence that contacts between the French suppliers and Hussein's government continued until last year, less than one month before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
<snip>

[0007]

1. A big joke! Everyone in the world was making a buck off of Iraq

While not denying that the transfers took place, a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry, Herve Ladsous, said the accusations "were not verified either with the people themselves or with the authorities of the countries concerned," according to the Associated Press.

[fairyduster]

2. I read about this

on Yahoo news this morning. I also read last night that American companies and the persons involved were blacked out of the report.