Dunno.. heard two refrences to this possibility on two diffrent news shows. Appears to be unfounded rehtoric and wild supposition. I hope it is.. however, some doubt remains. Got this from the BBC site:
France 'facing both ways on Iraq'
Tough question: Chirac may yet change position
By William Horsley
BBC European affairs analyst
French President Jacques Chirac, heading into a crucial summit with the UK, is publicly opposed to war in Iraq - but in fact is keeping his options open. France would like to preserve its special ties with Iraq.
The signs are that if it comes to war, French national interest would dictate it would take part
It has the closest trade links with Iraq of any country in Europe. Some 5% of French oil imports still come from Iraq.
And the big French oil firm TotalFinaElf hopes to win valuable contracts in Iraqi oilfields whenever the current international sanctions are lifted.
As French Prime Minister in the mid-1970s, Mr Chirac personally cultivated a special relationship with Iraq and its leader, Saddam Hussein.
In past years, French firms built a nuclear power plant at Osirak near Baghdad, which was attacked by Israel in 1981.
A second Security Council resolution could bring France into the war. The French have also sold the Iraqis fighter aircraft, missiles, radar and other weapons systems worth an estimated $25bn.
This long-term relationship would be put at risk if France were to take part in a US-led war against Iraq.
Mr Chirac did not speak of economic interests last month when he tried, with Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, to forge a policy against the use of military force in the name of Europe as a whole.
He said the United Nations weapons inspectors must have more time, and that there was "so far" no justification for using military force.
His Foreign Minister, Dominique de Villepin, implied that France might veto a new UN resolution authorising war.
He said the government would go "all the way" to defend its stance. Early in January he ordered the French armed forces to be ready "for any eventuality".
France's nuclear-powered aircraft-carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, with a powerful battle group, is now reported to be setting sail from Toulon for the eastern Mediterranean. And France's Defence Minister, Michele Alliot-Marie, has said that French forces will be "ready to intervene" in Iraq if the decision is taken.
She added that it could take as little as two weeks for them to be on a war footing. The signs are that if it comes to war, French national interest would dictate it would take part.
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Frances active support of Argentine Exocet deployment during the Falklands war is telling. I'm seeing a very similar relationshiop w/ Iraq now. Scary, ain't it??