Did Le Pen ever get oil-for-food kickbacks from Saddam?

The UN's oil-for-food scandal, which included quite a few people who weren't directly connected to or employed by them, such as the loathsome George Galloway, hasn't been discussed so much lately, even though Galloway himself was cited as going to stand trial for his own involvement recently. But it still needs to be discussed, including the possibility that Jean-MarieDhimmi Le Pen, who visited Iraq in a solidarity visit to Saddam, may have been involved.

I couldn't find any articles that bring up the question, but I did find a cached page from the India Tribune that has both subjects on it. No connection made here, yet for me, it did seem to suggest something.

Personally, I think there is certainly a possibility that Le Pen may have taken money from Saddam during his visit to Iraq shortly before the invasion to topple the dictator in 2002. Just how to prompt an investigation is the real challenge.

While we're on the subject, well well well, what have we here: NRO's The Corner finds more news confirming Le Pen's Front National giving up its opposition to Muslim immigration. From the UPI:

In France, Jean-Marie Le Pen's far right National Front appears to have opted for a can't-lick-'em-join-'em strategy, a rapprochement with France's large immigrant Muslim community -- with undertones of anti-Semitism. Le Pen's reasoning appears to be the recognition that Islamicization is in France to stay with 25 percent of France's under 20 population Muslim (40 percent in some cities), 2nd and 3rd generation North Africans. FN's tough stance on immigration is tempered by support for Arab and Islamist causes in the Middle East (Hamas and Hezbollah are two favorites). There are an estimated 6 to 8 million Muslims among France's 62 million and Islam is now France's second religion. Mosques are well attended on Fridays; churches aren't on Sundays. France's prison inmates are over 50 percent Muslim

Le Pen's strategic advisers argue the FN must drop its founding mythology and forget about the once popular image of a modern Joan of Arc resisting the invasion of Muslim hordes. Americans and Jews are the new targets. But the party's Christian right-wingers do not agree and are defecting in large numbers. The Islamist threat is their main concern and they are finding a new political home in MPF, Mouvement Pour la France, which is anti-European Union and anti-Muslim, and given only 7 percent of registered voters in a recent poll. Le Pen's followers have dropped back from 11 percent to 9 percent.

It's good if Le Pen's support base is finally dwindling, as people realize that he's not what he claims to be. Let me add that in Britain, people may want to keep an eye on the BNP, since they too could be two-faced. Read the rest of the article to see how the intifada and attacks on Jews are rising in France now too.

It's most definitely possible that the riots from last year will be returning again, and if Chirac is smart, he'll allow the authorities to fight back full force. The army is what's needed here (but leave behind any members who are Muslim), and Chirac and his defense minister are the ones whose court the ball is in on that matter.