WikiLeaks: US Ambassador Planned "Retaliation" Against France Over Ban on Monsanto Corn
Tuesday 21 December 2010
by: Mike Ludwig, t r u t h o u t | Report

Craig Stapleton, former US ambassador to France at a Memorial Day service in Fere-en-Tardenois, France. Stapleton was concerned that a French decision to suspend cultivation of Monsanto's MON-810 corn could spread anti-biotech policy across the EU. (Photo: LeAnne MacAllister, 5th Signal Command)
The former United States ambassador to France suggested "moving to retaliation" against France and the European Union (EU) in late 2007 to fight a French ban on Monsanto's genetically modified (GM) corn and changes in European policy toward biotech crops, according to a cable released by WikiLeaks on Sunday.
Former Ambassador Craig Stapleton was concerned about France's decision to suspend cultivation of Monsanto's MON-810 corn and warned that a new French environmental review standard could spread anti-biotech policy across the EU.
"Country team Paris recommends that we calibrate a target retaliation list that causes some pain across the EU since this is a collective responsibility, but that also focuses in part on the worst culprits," Stapleton wrote to diplomatic colleagues.
President George W. Bush appointed Stapleton as ambassador to France in 2005, and in 2009, Stapleton left the office and became an owner of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. Bush and Stapleton co-owned the Texas Rangers during the 1990s.
Monsanto is based in St. Louis.
The EU's 1998 approval of MON-810 corn has since expired. In recent years, several European countries joined France in banning MON-810 and similar biotech crops while the products are reassessed in light of research showing they could harm the environment and human health.
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It is not clear if Stapleton's retaliation scheme was ever implemented.
"In our view, Europe is moving backwards not forwards on this issue with France playing a leading role, along with Austria, Italy and even the Commission ... Moving to retaliation will make clear that the current path has real costs to EU interests and could help strengthen European pro-biotech voices," Stapleton wrote.
MON-810 is engineered to excrete the Bt toxin, which is poisonous to some insect pests. A stacked version of MON-810 is also engineered to be resistant to glyphosate, an herbicide first popularized by Monsanto under the brand name Roundup.
The debate in France over Monsanto's GM products has grown ugly in recent years.
A recent Truthout report detailed the story of Dr. Gilles-Eric Seralini, a scientist at the University of Caen in France. Seralini's supporters claim the scientist has faced intimidation from within the French scientific community after he published several studies showing Monsanto GM corn and glyphosate posed risks to human health.

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Comments
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Bush and the people who
Tue, 12/21/2010 - 11:36 — Bite (not verified)Bush and the people who worked for him should face some serious trials, and naturally jail time, for this kind of political and economic bullying. But what a dream that is, is it not? Imagine: Obama condemned the release of these vividly important documents. If he condemns the release of this sort of vital information there's only one conclusion to be drawn: he abides by the same lawlessness and seeks immunity from this sort of information released in the future.
It's amusing that a
Tue, 12/21/2010 - 11:38 — Anonymous (not verified)It's amusing that a scientist would face intimidation because he's concerned for people's health. Is economics a more important concern than people's health? Apparently some think so.
What's the point of economics if economics is more important than people? Are our "interests" really in our interest? Does it really matter to the US if Europe doesn't want genetically modified crops? We may end up learning a thing or two.
Wikileaks' releases certainly provide an amusing, even entertaining, look in the rear view mirror. And this is what Hillary Clinton calls "the hard work" being done by our selfless civil servants? Hoo boy.
Yes, it does very much
Tue, 12/21/2010 - 13:04 — Forbzee (not verified)Yes, it does very much matter to the US whether Europe allows genetically modified corn, because that corn seed is owned by Monsanto, and generates tremendous profits in the short term, and tremendous market control in the long term, for them. If we assume that the US is a business owned government, then it is very good as well for the US gov't. Google Monsanto and GM seed, or read this:
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/301394
Monsanto now has 80% od the US corn crop, with health effects unknown.
Once more, the masks are
Tue, 12/21/2010 - 13:45 — ELoots (not verified)Once more, the masks are falling off and showing the real face of the United States of America...
It shows the tremendous gap between what the US says it does and what it actually does.
This confirms we need WikiLeaks more than ever !
When did Facebook get top
Tue, 12/21/2010 - 14:36 — John (not verified)When did Facebook get top billing as a commenter? How about putting the facebook stuff after this site's comments?
The process to break up the
Tue, 12/21/2010 - 15:01 — Anonymous (not verified)The process to break up the EU and its currency by the US financial system is now in full swing vis-a-vis the US puppet to do so, Germany, as it continues to protest its "support" of other EU countries debts (as the US ratings agencies continue to downgrade each EU country's debt rating, making it more and more costly for Germany to continue its inclusion in the EU.)
Since there are many treaties/agreements/laws/etc put together under the auspices of the EU conglomerate for the essentially bargaining power purposes with other nation-states, multi-national corporations, like Monsanto or Pfizer for instance, won't the EU countries, now broken apart from their EU treaties/agreements/laws/etc, have less collective bargaining power whence that happens?
Funny how we are talking about the collective bargaining destroying austerity measures per individual EU country (and some outside the EU of course,) when the huge behemoth of an issue is looming if the EU were to breakup!
Monsanto's ambassador to
Tue, 12/21/2010 - 15:21 — Peter White, Albion, California. (not verified)Monsanto's ambassador to France, apparently, not my ambassador nor most of my friends' ambassador wants to dictate France's (if not the whole world's according to Monsanto) nutritional and dietary life... With ambassadors like these who needs enemies? Or if United States policy is Monsanto's, who needs Monsanto or the United States? I'm glad that someone else read this same cable; it had me shaking my head in disbelief and recognition(?) that our nation state does not really have baseline or bottom line (except corporate money and business) well-being of people, American, french, whoever, in mind or more importantly, at heart. Obviously, our national religion is not kindness - and if it is, truly, isn't it time we began exporting that as opposed to "retaliation" if France, for example, don't want or need no stinking GMO...
I would like France to be
Tue, 12/21/2010 - 17:25 — Anonymous (not verified)I would like France to be wikileaked too. The stuff they have been pulling in Africa is beyond words. Other prime candidates for wikileaking: Russia, Israel, China, UK.
How DARE this bastard force
Tue, 12/21/2010 - 17:29 — Alan8 (not verified)How DARE this bastard force this frankenfood CRAP on another country!
We're OUTRAGED that they've forced their crappy poison-filled corn on us here in the US!
This poisoning of our food supply for more corporate profits has occurred under BOTH Republican AND Democratic administrations.
They're BOTH against us! Vote Green Party or Socialist.
Hooray for France! Monsanto
Tue, 12/21/2010 - 17:33 — Anonymous (not verified)Hooray for France! Monsanto is a vicious company that wants to control the seed crops of the world. They force countries under IMF regulations to use their seeds and prevent the farmers from harvesting the seeds from their crops.
When the revolution comes, may Monsanto be one of the first to go up in smoke. Vile, vile, vile company!
USC just did a study
Tue, 12/21/2010 - 17:45 — Edward R. Arnold (not verified)USC just did a study revealing that although Americans are living longer, they are living more years with morbidity (chronic illness). Between high-fructose corn syrup, GM grains engineered to contain poisons that kill insects (and people), contamination of the environment by chemicals like BPA, etc. etc., it should not be surprising that we're going to see a wave of chronic illness that will swamp the US healthcare system. It's already begun with the diabetes epidemic.
How dare we spread the
Tue, 12/21/2010 - 17:47 — Anonymous (not verified)How dare we spread the Poison of Monsanto to
the people of France. Bush and his gangsters
should be investigated. Good thing we have the
Wikileaks to tell us what is going on.
The Sheeple who attack Assange are the same
followers who cheer for Slick Willie Clinton.
What else can we say?
Our corporate ambassadors
Tue, 12/21/2010 - 17:49 — GT66 (not verified)Our corporate ambassadors ladies and gentlemen. I'm glad citizens can pay taxes through the nose to hire these clowns to then go out and represent corporate interests. God Bless the American way. Yeah right.
Thanks to Wikileaks, we know
Tue, 12/21/2010 - 18:02 — Pierre (not verified)Thanks to Wikileaks, we know much more about 'what is going on behind the scenes'. Dirty behaviors seemed to be the norm among 'clean and smart people' like American diplomats during Bush's reign. Are we sure that the earth is still not spinning on the wrong direction since Obama took office?
Dear Ambassador Craig:
Tue, 12/21/2010 - 19:56 — Anonymous (not verified)Dear Ambassador Craig:
France is very smart and correct not to allow Monsanto's GMO corn in and cross pollinate with other crops.
Craig you only need to look at the experaments that have been done and not hiden to find out the true dangers.
Monsanto should be ashamed of it's self.
EU should not allow it either, nor should the US.
Thank you Wiki Leaks!!
PLEASE REQUEST YOUR LOCAL
Tue, 12/21/2010 - 20:02 — Anonymous (not verified)PLEASE REQUEST YOUR LOCAL GROCERY STORES TO NOT BUY GMO.
NO ONE SHOULD BUY GMO EXPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN. IT IS A HEALTH RISK!!
SAY NO TO GMO!!
Good for Assange!! I think
Tue, 12/21/2010 - 20:35 — Anonymous (not verified)Good for Assange!! I think he is the Man-of-the- year.
Americans have been misled and misguided about the whole case.
The point is that we have unqualified, bullying morons in power pushing and bullying their ways around the world.
The US is on its way out. We are our own worst enemy. It is time we start looking at our allies as allies and equals.
It is time that we quit trying to solve all the problems around the world, especially when it is not our business.
I don't know how to avoid
Tue, 12/21/2010 - 20:59 — Realist (not verified)I don't know how to avoid chemically modified fruit and vegetables. How do we know what is in the food we buy? I'll probably go on a corn-less diet, but that means avoiding anything made with corn-oil also. Do chemically modified fruit and vegetables have to be labeled as such? What protection do we consumers have, if any?
Monsanto the glorious is
Tue, 12/21/2010 - 21:08 — Anonymous (not verified)Monsanto the glorious is hiring ex-CIA agents to track and identify protesters and opponents to its takeover of food suppliers. This collusion w/the government for lockdown control is a form of racketeering that invites investigation. However most troubling is it's major shareholder partnership with private killing/murder corporation BLACKWATER now known as Xe. This mercenary corporation has demonstrated over and over its willingness to MURDER anyone that its bosses or controllers deem to be opposition. These corporate mass murderers should be all locked up on death row along with their conspirators.
Dear Wikileaks, Please,
Tue, 12/21/2010 - 21:50 — Floresta (not verified)Dear Wikileaks,
Please, pretty please release all of the cables!
If crap like the above (Monsanto vs France) is going on, we the peeps really need to know just how awful our corp/gov really is/are!
And Monsanto, go F*ck yourselves and died of GMO, ahem, food! Geez, in cahoots with Blackwater/XE!
Holy crap!!!!
And how much has this
Wed, 12/22/2010 - 00:26 — benalbanach (not verified)And how much has this representative of the American people been paid by Monsanto ?
Wikileaks is the only
Wed, 12/22/2010 - 02:01 — Don Adams (not verified)Wikileaks is the only credible source of journalism left.
Unfortunately, not truth-out.org anymore. They have ceded our privacy to Corporate Facebook tracking and surveillance. For shame.
For all who want to know
Wed, 12/22/2010 - 04:34 — Heartbeatt (not verified)For all who want to know more, there are various documentaries about Monsanto that aired on TV in European countries several years ago, depicting not only their bunker mentality but, for instance, the terrible, negative effects of their GM corn in South America. The "The World According to Monsanto"can be seen here:
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-world-according-to-monsanto/
Much of Europe is against GM plants because governments and media have a strong information network, which keeps their citizens much more aware of what is going on around them (one exception is Italy where Berlusconi controls their media and Italians are suffering the same effects as Fox viewers).
It certainly is outrageous that someone like Stapleton should be an US Ambassador in the first place. 'Retaliation' - what a primitive mentality thinks of that! But there was plenty of it when most of Europe refused to go along with the Bush war in Iraq.
There's even profound hatred
Wed, 12/22/2010 - 07:53 — JB (not verified)There's even profound hatred for the concept of democracy in Western Europe among the corporate cabal now exercising its death grip on US policy.
Targeting the EU with such a blatant profit over people mentality should show quite clearly how much truth there is in US claims that the wars they fight around the world are ostensibly fought to promote democracy. Not that this claim is taken seriously anywhere outside the US. It's the possibility of US citizens waking up to this reality that does worry the cabal and earns WikiLeaks the "terrorist" label.
Good for France & for
Wed, 12/22/2010 - 08:00 — rogerscorpion (not verified)Good for France & for Wikileaks. Monsanto's GM seeds have brutalized farmers in several countries. Yes, they have a built-in pesticide, but they also expire, requiring the farmer buy more Monsanto seeds. Farmers in India have commited suicide, because of their seeds. I heard a Canadian farmer, on the radio, who was sued, because after refusing Monsanto's seeds, their seeds 'mysteriously appeared on his property.
Support the REAL Wikileaks
Wed, 12/22/2010 - 09:41 — Alan8 (not verified)Support the REAL Wikileaks hero: Bradley Manning. He's been held in solitary confinement for MONTHS by the army, without even a pillow or blanket.
He's probably been tortured. I don't see much organized support for helping him.
If it wasn't for Bradley Manning WE WOULDN'T KNOW *ANY* OF THIS!
We have to help him!
Just Imagine What Happens
Wed, 12/22/2010 - 10:34 — Bill O'Rights (not verified)Just Imagine What Happens within the FDA and USDA wrt Monsanto - Those Federal Agencies are packed with former (and future) Monsanto people. This kind of corruption is the vampire on the neck of America - while fools clamor to make sure that all American's are entitled to the poisonous medicine that the FDA approves under the direction of it's other masters - the pharmaceutical giants, giving them a mandate. Time to abandon the Left/Right paradigm and focus on returning the power to local government and the people - and away from centralized control, which never ever works in a large nation and never has.
The gov.scum that's having
Wed, 12/22/2010 - 15:12 — moodymack (not verified)The gov.scum that's having psychotic fits because of evils being revealed, fear truth more than law or morals.
They speak of democracy and democratic ideals yet go numb when realizing that transparency and truth are primary musts in a majority ruled democracy....Voters must be informed of truth!
It's all well and good to
Wed, 12/22/2010 - 18:38 — Americonned (not verified)It's all well and good to jaw off. But what can be done about it? How about a class action against the US and corporate America? It's past time. Truthout is good media, but we need action, and now. We need a real 'peoples court' that can take our public servants to task.
FUSION CENTERS - SCARY
Thu, 12/23/2010 - 15:10 — colorado7080 (not verified)FUSION CENTERS - SCARY STUFF!
If you have not seen Jessie Ventura's Conspiracy Theory show ... you should! He and Michael are definitely on a similar path. http://www.trutv.com/shows/conspiracy_theory/index.html
Police State
Aired: 11/12/2010
It's been said the government has a plan to declare martial law and round up millions of United State citizens into concentration camps. Jesse may have found a conspiracy in plain sight as he investigates the proliferation of law enforcement Fusion Centers around the country.
Any of you who wish to
Fri, 12/24/2010 - 08:35 — mysterioso (not verified)Any of you who wish to further your understanding of Monsanto please watch two documentaries: "The Future of Food", and "Food Inc". It seems that Monsanto's stated goal is to patent and own the rights to all the food seeds on the planet. Thus, making all farmers in the world subject to patent royalties. Along with this Monsanto GM's seed to be useful in only one planting. The plant will not produce seed to be harvested and saved by farmers for the next crop. The farmers will have to go to Monsanto each year for new seed. Seed saving has been practiced by farmers around the world for thousands of years, but Monsanto wants to put a stop to that. Another satanic union is that of Monsanto and the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. These money lenders are refusing to make loans to Third World countries who won't buy Monsanto seeds. Now how did that come about?
This is covered in
Mon, 12/27/2010 - 00:10 — SOF (not verified)This is covered in environmental and progressive groups. But the word is not getting out to the public. How can it be made an issue?
the Food Safety Bill does not address. (bogus if you like small farms, farmers' markets, organic food....
The Food movie,
Seeds of Destruction" by F. William Engdahl
are preaching to the choir, I think some of these TParty people, Midwest conservative farmers, etc.could be allies -if their faux news would inform them...yea, sure.
This story needs to be widely read,...bless Wikileaks!
GMO ingredients Must be labeled. (which is most soy, 95% of the cord -including corn syrup.)
GMO salmon Must be labeled and protested -as the first GMO animal product.
How to build a movement????? FDA? The enemy is our own government -and Monsanto has the right of Free speech (=propoganda money) Reprinting the EU argument against GMO? Support of what is left of Farmers? The India story? I saw this on PBS before the bushies breached the CPB wall. Soon that non-corporate media will be defunded.
What about focusing on grocery outlets?
All you moms out there who
Fri, 01/14/2011 - 14:38 — Frances in California (not verified)All you moms out there who are worried about Bradley Manning, please go to Courage to Resist to support him.
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