France plays an important role as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, but Patrice de Beer ("France and the Security Council", openDemocracy 20/11/02) overstates its influence and exaggerates the beneficence of its actions. He also misconstrues the course of events. Other actors, including Colin Powell and Tony Blair, have probably had more influence in bringing the US government to the United Nations and, potentially, within the ambit of international law. And to say that the US plan for a war against Iraq have been "stopped in its tracks" is unconvincing. Preparation moves forward apace. French diplomats may talk a good game of serving "the world's interest". But the real motives of the French government are less glorious. TotalFinaElf, the oil giant seamlessly connected to the French government, stands to reap huge benefits from working closely with the present Iraqi regime. This is a natural continuation of the fond relationship with Saddam Hussein's tyranny that has characterised successive French governments for decades. France was the number two supplier of military hardware to Iraq after the Soviet Union. And France was first mover in helping the Ba'ath regime in its early efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction through its support for the Ozirak nuclear reactor programme. Moreover, M. de Beer's legerdemain distracts readers from France's long and consistent history as a leading rogue state. French crimes range from its nuclear explosions in the South Pacific during the 1990s (as a footnote, the murder of a peaceful protestor against the tests… with medals for the murderers), to nurturing the perpetrators the genocide in Rwanda, one of the worst in 20th century history. Even more recently, the French have reached new depths as leading enemies of the world's poor. The blocking of the reduction of EU agricultural subsidies will result in food dumping in the global South, undermining the viability of domestic markets, the livelihoods of millions of people, and the health and well being of more. French skills in diplomacy are not as great as Gallic self-regard would claim. French state interests have repeatedly proved inimical to liberty, equity and solidarity.