PARIS, Dec 13: Richard Perle, adviser to US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, who is considered the leading advocate of an attack on Iraq, in an interview to French daily ‘Le Figaro’ has said that “our proofs will be so convincing that you’ll decide to come over to our side and fight alongside us in Iraq.”

In the interview he has admonished the French position on Saddam Hussein and Yaseer Arafat.

Queried as to why, in his estimation, President Chirac has taken such a firm stand against a US attack on Iraq, Perle replied that “one of my French friends tells me that President Chirac spent most of his (political) life immersed in the affairs of the Persian Gulf, and that he entertained close family-style relations with most of the leaders in the region.

“Then too historically, it’s true that France’s relationship with Iraq has been totally different from that has existed between Iraq and the United States.”

As for the UN resolution, Perle said, “my reading of the resolution would indicate that we don’t need a new resolution in order to go to war.”